


Fusion Family

by TheOneAndOnly1993



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Humor, Self-Acceptance, Self-Hatred, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2018-08-18 06:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8152975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOneAndOnly1993/pseuds/TheOneAndOnly1993
Summary: In a freak accident, the Crystal Gems obtain several new members to their team: their Fusions! From Ruby and Sapphire, to Smoky, Sugilite, Opal, and even Alexandrite, they're all free and their own independent Gems. But in spite of their nature as Fusions, these radically different personalities will need to work together and learn how to function not only as a team, but as a family too.





	1. Blue-Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems once again give life in the Kindergarten

"Let's make sure the Kindergarten isn't hiding any more 'surprises.'"

It started out as a simple-enough mission.

They always do.

_"It's hurting television."_

_"I've located the beetles of Heaven and Earth."_

_"Peridot's got nothing we can't handle..."_

_"Those were just the desperate lies of a Gem who's been caught."_

_"Alright. Let's put an end to this."_

Then it goes sideways. Garnet had come to expect and accept this years ago. Having Future Vision usually helps.

Until today, that is. No one, not even Garnet, could anticipate what would happen in the womb of the Prime Kindergarten.

It began with an offhand comment by Peridot one morning, when she and Lapis were visiting to watch some of Steven's shows - Lonely Blade had founded a magical sword that was designed by his enemies, crafted to absorb the life-force of slain opponents and grow stronger in power.

" _Please,_ " she sneered in that nasally drawl. "Such weaponry is elementary. I bet Yellow Diamond wouldn't even use that to pick her teeth! Now the Prime Kindergarten, _that_ hasmere prototypes of weaponry that would send this isolated cutlery humanoid running!"

"Heh, I bet!" Steven agreed, half-listening to her ramblings.

But Garnet heard. She was laid across the sofa downstairs, wary gaze hidden behind her visor. She didn't need to be reminded of the _last_ weapon the Diamonds had left behind in the Kindergarten. Her Future Vision uncertain, Garnet rounded up the Crystal Gems to do some exploring in the Kindergarten's underground labyrinth.

"What are you expecting?" Pearl wondered upon warping in. The Kindergarten was as still as the grave, and just as quiet too.

Though inside Garnet was on her guard for what they might find, to her teammates she merely said, "Anything to give us an edge against the Diamonds."

That was her gravest mistake.

It was because of this that Steven and Amethyst had founded a machine, and rather than return to their teammates, their curiosity and eagerness to please Garnet led to the thoughtless decision of pressing a hand to the control panel. The dark chamber filled with an intense blue light, completely unlike the typical greens of Homeworld's tech circulating the Kindergarten's sub-levels and rendering their skin and clothing an intense cobalt hue.

The machine's rousing moans echoed forlorn down the tunnel, alerting Pearl and Garnet, who saw its light beamed brilliantly out through the doorway. They made a dash for the room, and froze on the spot when the machine snapped its massive gaze to them.

"What... is _that_?" Pearl hissed, her trident gripped tight. Then stiffly, "What did you two _do_?"

Despite the situation, Amethyst hastily accused, "It was Steven!"

"Yeah, it was!" he worriedly agreed, bringing himself to the machine's attention and Pearl's instantaneous embrace. "It looks like a Red-Eye," he said, peering through her protective arms. He smiled. "But it's _blue._ I'll call it a Blue-Eye!"

"Creativity ain't your middle name, little guy," Amethyst chuckled. The Blue-Eye roved towards her, making her jump slightly at its abrupt motion. "Alright, that thing's _really_ freaking me out."

Pearl turned to Garnet, still hugging Steven. "What do you think this is?"

The Fusion shrugged. "No idea. Not sure if it's even capable of harm. Doesn't seem so." She rose both hands to the eyeball, its monstrous glare whizzing between the two before locking firmly onto her face.

And it did nothing. Garnet lowered her hands, humming.

Indeed, it was more or less a massive blue eyeball stuck in the wall, staring unblinkingly at the Crystal Gems. Only its gaze snapped to whoever made a move towards it, but nothing more beyond just that. They all looked to one another, uncertain, but it was clear that this thing had no obvious means of attacking them.

It was just really, _really_ unsettling.

"Whelp!" Amethyst announced, grabbing everyone's including the Blue Eye's attention. "This thing's stared at me for long enough. I am O-U-T, _out!_ " She made for the exit.

Pearl squawked after her. "A-Amethyst, get back here and help us destroy this thing!"

"Hey, Amethyst! Wait up!" Steven cried, wriggling out of Pearl's grasp. As he did, his shirt rode up his stomach, baring his quartz-stone to the gaze of the Blue Eye.

The door very nearly slammed shut on Amethyst's toes. "Hey!" She whirled around. "What's the big idea?!"

Her question was quite rhetoric, at least it was in her mind - which is why Amethyst went rigid with fright, as did her fellow Gems, when a booming, guttural voice echoed in the chamber of blue light.

_**"GEMSTONE PRINTS TAKEN. ASSESSING... ASSESSING..."** _

The Crystal Gems huddled together, weapons at the ready, their eyes trained on the massive one that no longer focused on _them,_ merely the space adjacent to the wall. This only served to unnerve them further.

_**"CONVERTING ORGANIC MATERIAL INTO COMPACT FORMS. LOADING... WARNING: MULTIPLE FIGURES WITHIN CONSTRUCT POWER SUPPLIES DETECTED. DIRECT SCANS REQUIRED. PLEASE STAND STILL."** _

It acted too fast for anyone, even Garnet's Future Vision, to evade. From its massive hexagonal pupil, four, no, five arcs of electricity shot forth, swerving directly into each gemstone on their persons. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and Steven all twisted and cried, their bodies surging with energy sprouting from their gems. The pain was boiling, their forms feeling like they should have poofed from the agony alone but the Eye, whatever it was doing, prevented them from doing so.

It soon released them all, near as quickly as soon as the torture began, and the four collapsed on top of one another in sweaty heaps, panting like dogs. Exhaustion quickly overcame the Crystal Gems, Amethyst and Garnet fighting to keep their eyes open but ultimately failing.

The last thing any of them heard was the Blue-Eye.

_**"GEMSTONES READ. PERSONALITIES SAVED. COPYING."** _

_**"ENJOY YOUR ARMY, MY DIAMOND.** _ _**"** _

* * *

**_Fusion Family_ **

_by TheOneAndOnly1993_

* * *

_**Prologue** _

The first thing Steven noticed as he came to was a familiar wind brushing against his face - dry and dusty and cold and odorless.

He was back outside, in the Kindergarten.

This realization was quickly overridden by something more important. "Guys?" he called out shakily, rubbing his eyes. "Is everybody okay?" Steven pushed himself up, ignoring his own pain in his stomach as his vision slowly adjusted to being outside again. The land before him was grey and lifeless, not a soul to be found.

"Am I dead?" he wondered. The wind responded. Steven found this place infinitely creepier when he was alone. "Amethyst, come out! This isn't funny!"

He flinched when a hand suddenly touched his shoulder.

He froze, however, when the owner spoke.

"Steven..."

The boy went rigid; this voice, it sounded a lot like Connie's, but distinctly _older_ and... and eerily _familiar._

He couldn't stand the mystery any longer; Steven whirled around, and jumped back almost a full foot at who it was. "S-Stevonnie?!" His voice even cracked, he was so surprised.

Indeed, there they were, or perhaps in this case, she? For he was here, and Connie Maheswaran was there, somewhere not here. _This is impossible!_ cried the logical part of his brain.

Yet the half-human, half-human-half-Gem Fusion was physically _there,_ at eye-level with him on one knee, hand still awkwardly stretched out. She looked exactly as he remembered her: tall, fair-skinned, with jean shorts and a red crop-top revealing a rose quartz, his signature star on the front. Her hair was wild and dark, eyes alive with energy as she mirrored his gaping-stare.

Steven reacted the only way he knew how.

" _This is a-may-zing!_ " he cried as he leapt into the Fusion's unsuspecting arms.

Stevonnie almost fell back with a yelp, but she caught her balance and reciprocated Steven's embrace just as fiercely. "Hey there, little guy! You're definitely taking this, well, exactly how I thought you would, actually." She chuckled, squeezing him tighter.

Steven breathed deep, and let it out in a sigh - Stevonnie's arms were strong and _warm,_ and her scent burned his nostrils with the odors of seafoam and sweat.

_Yep, definitely Stevonnie._

He pulled away, hands resting on her forearms. "Oh my gosh, Stevonnie! How are you here?!" The boy went rigid, and for just a moment he was staring off into space. "Oh no, does this mean I poofed? Am I inside my Gem?" He pulled further from Stevonnie, though kept one hand still resting on her wrist, and observed the dreary, hole-riddled cavern enclosing them. "Thought it'd be a lot _pinker_."

Stevonnie's eyes shut whenever she chuckled. "Believe me, you're not poofed. I'm real, and I'm here!"

The boy snapped his fingers. "Aha! That explains it!"

"What does?"

Steven placed both hands on his hips and proudly announced, "Either this is a dream, or I'm koo-koo bananas!"

The reply was a deep laugh and a hand flattening the curls of his head. "I assure you that neither of those are true," she said quite matter-of-factly.

The boy rubbed his chin quizzically while he hummed. "Well," he began, rocking on his heels, "if you're the _real_ Stevonnie, the _really-real_ Stevonnie, then... show me your weapon!"

The Fusion put on a face of surprise, but quickly relaxed. "Okay!" She nodded. Stevonnie stood up, brushing the dust off her knees, and took a stance. In a flash of light, a pink roundshield appeared on her wrist, emblazoned with Rose's standard. Stevonnie looked quite determined and, dare Steven say, totally awesome! Except something was missing, and she seemed to notice it, too.

Stevonnie brought her legs together, and rubbed the back of her head abashedly with an accompanying blush. "It looks kinda silly without the sword, I know. But I, I mean, _you_ , kinda left it... with... Lion."

He nodded, pursing his lips. "Impressive, impressive. But anybody can summon my shield!"

Confusion flashed across Stevonnie's face. With a laugh she meekly began, "Uh, Steven, I don't think-"

" _SO_ answer me this: who did we fight that one time with Amethyst?" He leaned forward expectantly, hands on his hips.

Stevonnie playfully rolled her eyes. "Pssht, that's easy! It was Jasper, and her two corrupted Quartz-Gems." She sighed at the memory. "Hah, we really whooped her butt. Good times, right Steven?"

The boy agreed, though he failed to revel in the nostalgia as his Fusion had. She seemed to have noticed this, and adopted a look of puzzlement. "You alright?"

"Yeah, that time was just kinda scary for me. I think your Connie is showing." Stevonnie started laughing, a blush on her face, yet as soon as those words left his mouth a thought overpowered all others in Steven's mind. "Wait, Stevonnie, something's wrong!" he suddenly cried, making the Fusion jump back.

In fact, she looked completely _terrified._ "Wha-What!? Steven, what's wrong?! Are you feeling okay?!" In an instant she was on both knees, hands gripping the boys shoulders tight. Her eyes were wild with fear.

He was so taken aback by this reaction that Steven was momentarily at a loss for words.

This didn't help calm Stevonnie in the slightest, and in that instant she was at the rave once again, being cornered by Kevin, all alone. Tears welled in her eyes. "Steven?!" she cried, shaking the boy.

Steven rattled his head, reentering reality - the reality where one of his Fusions, Stevonnie, was right there in front of him, shaking him with her warm hands, screaming his name in a voice with such emotion that only a big sister could muster.

"Ah! Stevonnie!"

Stevonnie wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm. "Oh thank _God,_ Steven! Don't you dare scare me like that! I thought the Blue-Eye might have left some lingering side effects."

"I'm sorry! It's just... well..." Steven couldn't find the words quick enough for Stevonnie's liking, as he knew how easy it was for her to get stressed. So he just came right out and said it: "How are you existing right now?!"

"Uh-"

"Is Connie in there too? If you poofed, will there be another Steven?! Because let me tell you, I don't wanna have to deal with _that_ again!"

"Steven."

Somehow, the calm, strong tone of Stevonnie ceased the flood of words tumbling from Steven's mouth, to where he could now only look to her with hopelessly confused eyes.

Gently, Stevonnie grabbed his little hand in her's, and in one fluid motion she stood up. "It'll be better if I let the others explain."

They started walking through the Kindergarten, and it was then that Steven asked, "Others?"

* * *

**I am aware that canonically, Stevonnie is referred to with "they" pronouns. Because Stevonnie is a singular entity in this story, they will be treated as such and referred to as female like any other Gem.**


	2. These Carefree Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stevonnie and Steven frolic

The walk back to "Home Boulder" (a codename both Stevonnie and Steven found incredibly humorous) was not a silent one.

He'd somehow forgotten that Stevonnie possessed twice the stamina as he, being a Fusion of himself and Connie. Coupled with his ravenous hunger for fun with Connie's thirst for adventure, and Steven believed he may have found someone even he could not keep up with.

That's not even considering the pure joy they shared from merely existing at the same time, something neither spared so much as a thought to before, now suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, a reality.

Steven sprinted by, lightly smacking her on the thigh. " _Tag!_ You're it!"

"Oh!" Stevonnie froze, caught off guard for just a moment before breaking into a sprint after him. "Oh-hoh, it's on! I got longer legs than you, little boy! You can't outrun this machine!" She laughed wildly.

And Steven did too, so hard that he stopped and clutched his belly before Stevonnie's large step even allowed her to catch up. He whooped in surprise when Stevonnie made a dive and caught him in her arms, "TAG!" She rolled into a sitting position, kicking up the centuries-old dust of the Kindergarten further with her twiddling her fingers into her prey's stomach. "Oh look who I caught here!" she cried over the boy's shrieking laughter. "A little Gem monster, running around in the Kindergarten?! I'll have tooo _bubble him!_ "

"Noooo!" Steven cried. He fought back in a feeble effort, which only earned him more tickles. He managed to stop squirming just long enough to push his arms out, and Stevonnie away, with a pink bubble surrounding him. "Hah!" he cried, panting. "Can't bubble what's already bubbled!"

Stevonnie sauntered over, serenity simmering in her eyes. " _Very_ true," she purred, fingers dancing along the bubble's pink surface. "Guess you win." She glanced up, eyes locking with Steven's, and half a heartbeat later, a mischievous twinkle sparked in her gaze. "Have fun tagging me from in there!" she said, right before performing a jumping spin-kick to send Steven bouncing away.

"No fair!" he shouted after her. She was already a fair distance away when Steven popped his bubble and gave chase, though Stevonnie was running at a noticeably leisurely pace for his benefit.

She was almost _skipping_ away.

 _In fact..._ He narrowed his eyes, staring as he jogged. Moments later they shot open in shock. "Hey! No floating!"

Stevonnie's raucous laughter answered as she ascended higher and higher. Steven broke into a sweat dashing after her, launching himself into a float-powered leap after closing a fair distance on the Fusion's leisurely pace and catching her by the ankle.

"I caught a Stevonnie!" he sang.

Stevonnie pulled her leg and him up closer and began to poke him right in his soft, ruddy cheek. "Get your touch-stumps off me, you _Steven_!" she replied in a familiar, nasally voice. The two of them engaged in an intense staring contest, but failed to hold it for longer than two seconds before bursting into laughter.

With that, Stevonnie made her descent. Just for safety, she grabbed Steven and held him close to her chest. They fell into a comfortable silence filled only by their heavy breathing as they made their way to the ground.

"What're you thinking about, if you don't mind me asking?"

Stevonnie grimaced. "Kevin."

"No wonder we're falling so quickly."

She laughed heartily.

Stevonnie took off as soon as they hit the ground, leaving Steven in her metaphorical and literal Kindergarten-grade dust. "Come on, Steven: rock jump! _HYAH!_ " The tall Fusion leapt up and gracefully vaulted over a boulder easily twice her height. Steven could have sworn that was Amethyst's "Sitting Rock." A glance over to the upper layers across the Kindergarten proved this; the Warp Pad was still there.

Being a clumsy fourteen-year-old boy, Steven clambered over the Sitting Rock as opposed to vaulting over it. He landed gracefully on his butt beside Stevonnie, whom was leaning against the boulder with her arms folded.

Steven pushed himself up, breathing heavily. "Man..." he panted, "Never... realized... how much energy you had! ... _Wo_ _of!_ Feel like 'm gonna pass out!"

"Well, we did run all over Beach City when I first came to be. Remember?" She watched him with a smirk, but the longer he went on without answering, the humor on her face proceeded to fall. "You okay?" She knelt down, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Steven continued to catch his breath, glancing over to flash a grin of assurance. Yet this only furthered Stevonnie's frown. "Here, let me carry you the rest of the way."

"'m okay..."

Without waiting for him to protest, knowing full-well he would, Stevonnie scooped him up and proceeded to walk further into the Kindergarten. Only when Steven's inhales returned going in through his nose, did she venture to speak again. "Sorry I got a little carried away there. I... tend to, you know," she finished awkwardly.

Steven thought back - to Stevonnie's first time alive, accidentally appearing before his dad, their dance with Kevin, racing against that _stupid butt-head._

Steven giggled. "I do, actually," he answered brightly. "Don't be sorry, that was a lot of fun! You're great, Stevonnie!" He hooked his arms around her neck, nuzzling his cheek against Stevonnie's blushing ones.

She let out a deep, calming sigh as he pulled away. "It's just that, well, you know... It's so great to be... _alive_ and... _me,_ you know?" She shook her head, chuckling. "Ah, I sound like a dummy."

"Nah, no way! I know _exactly_ how you feel." His eyes flickered over to her; the two locked stares, their cheeks puffing up with barely-contained laughter, " _Fusion joke,"_ and then they burst. The duo's guffaws rolled down the vastness of the Kindergarten and back.

"Man," Steven said as their mirth died down. "Amethyst _never_ laughs at my Fusion jokes!"

"Right?" Stevonnie agreed.

"They're just so funny!"

"I _know_!" She was silent for a moment, before thoughtfully adding, "I bet Sardonyx'll appreciate it."

Steven gasped. He grabbed her face, awestruck. " _Sardonyx is here?!"_

"Yep! Everybody's here. Some friendly and familiar, and others, well..." She trailed off.

Steven soaked in the silence for a second, his gaze bouncing to and fro. "Sugilite?" he ventured quietly.

Steven awaited a reply, gazing up at his Fusion expectantly. But Stevonnie just looked... not there. Her gaze was distant, listless, worry creasing her brow. Her reaction was delayed, and noticeably more quiet than the energy that typically powered her mood.

"Oh, yeah, she's there too." Stevonnie shook her head, attempted a cover-up with an almost sisterly-tone as she said, "Sugilite's gearing up to see you, Steven."

Though Steven was lost in his own thoughts, that when he replied, it too was rather meek.

"Heh, cool." He hadn't meant to, but Steven was wondering what made Stevonnie seem so troubled all of a sudden, if not the rampaging Fusion who beat up Pearl?

Steven looked away, focusing on the path before them. The Kindergarten had begun to close, embracing them with its mighty walls. He couldn't help but shiver, and not from the sight; something was eating at Stevonnie, but he did not want to ask and make her feel worse as a result. Steven knew, quite literally, how Stevonnie felt when something was bothering her, was on her mind. Did his Fusion, knowing how he thought, already guess as to what he was thinking as well?

Steven could not be sure, but Stevonnie seemed just as eager to break the uncomfortable air between them as he. "I bet Sardonyx has been spending this whole time writing jokes," she mused. "Probably got a whole _library_ of them by now!"

Stars shone in Steven's eyes as he welcomed the distraction from his thoughts. "Oh my gosh, that's alotta books! I'm gonna read 'em all!"

"Then let's go!" Steven laughed as Stevonnie clutched him harder, breaking into a powerful sprint.

Another voice behind them rose up just as the pair bent a left, coming upon a split in the Kindergarten. "YO, Stev-Squad!"

Stevonnie skidded to a stop, and Steven craned his head around to the source. "Amethyst?"

"Oh, hey guys!" Stevonnie waved.

The second Fusion stomped, no, _tiptoed_ to a halt before she put Amethyst down. In one fluid motion she straightened up, standing twice Stevonnie's height, with cool-blue eyes and plump lips curved into a sweet smile. "Hello, Steven. It's so nice to see you up and about."

"Opal!" Steven cried with his arms out. Stevonnie handed him over to Opal, who promptly closed around his smaller body in a gentle, four-armed embrace.

Stevonnie looked over the two with a pleased smirk, then she met Amethyst, who was eyeing her up with folded arms. "'Sup, Amethyst?"

"Not much, Stevonnie," she coolly replied. "You're looking good."

She grinned. "I'm _feeling_ good."

Amethyst gestured her head to the two Gems beside them, whom were chatting up a storm (really it was Steven recounting his fun with Stevonnie, Opal merely nodding every time he paused to take a breath). "Crazy stuff, right?"

Stevonnie ran a hand through her hair. "You're telling me. I'm itchin' to get some answers soon."

"Eh, just go with the flow. Enjoy it while you can!" Stevonnie beamed a tiny smile, and Amethyst shrugged, mirroring her expression.

They both quietly agreed: whatever this was, it was _really_ flippin' cool.

The two Gems tuned back in just as Steven was wrapping up his story. "...and then we jumped over a rock! Well, I climbed. Stevonnie jumped."

Opal chuckled, a sound that made Steven's belly squirm with a whole family of butterflies. "Well, it sounds like you two had quite the adventure."

"It was _great,"_ Stevonnie replied. "Right, Steven?" The boy whooped in delight, pumping both fists in the air with all four of Opal's hands holding him for support. Stevonnie chuckled at his antics, but then regarded Opal with a crooked brow and a fist on her hip. "I thought you'd be back at camp by now. What are you doing out here?"

"Opal forgot where it was," Amethyst bluntly answered. All eyes were on the towering Fusion, whom shrugged with a sheepish grin, a dusty-grey blush on her cheeks. "But it was cool! We... had a lot of time to talk. About... stuff." Her eyes cast to the ground, though it was not a crestfallen face Amethyst was trying to hide, but a bashful one. A soft pat on the head by Opal brought the two of their gazes to meet. Opal moved her hand down Amethyst's mane, stopping to clap her on the shoulder, where Amethyst moved to stroke her long, thin fingers.

Steven was wondering just what those two were talking about, when Stevonnie suddenly spoke. "No worries, I remember where camp is. Follow me!"


	3. Meet the Fusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven meets his new teammates.

Being carried by Opal was amazing when they weren't backflipping away to avoid a swarm of dive-bombing birds. And her graceful step made for a flawlessly smooth ride, no bumps or bounces to speak of. Steven felt like he was gliding through the Kindergarten as he sat in her lower hands, nuzzled into her soft bosom.

He was enjoying himself, so much so that the occasional giggle couldn't help but bubble past his lips. It was hard to get a read on Opal, though. Her face was like a page with no words: completely blank.

"Hey, Opal?"

"Hey, what?" she playfully shot back.

Steven titled his head back, gazing up into her wide, curious eyes. "How's it feel to be alive?"

Opal tilted her head, a crooked smile on her lips. "And whatever do you mean by that?"

"I mean, how do you feel, being here and all." Steven cast a gaze over to Stevonnie, who led the trio with quite the fearless gait. "They, I mean, _she_ seems to be having fun. Are you?"

Opal's shoulders bounced as she chuckled. "Well, that's just who Stevonnie is, Steven. Like me; I feel the same as I always have."

"Well, what's that like?"

Her blue eyes twinkled, coupled with a smile that warmed Steven to his very core. "At peace." She gazed skywards, considering. "And comfortable. _Powerful_... Confident, too. And hungry. Very hungry." She smiled hearing the boy laugh.

"I thought Pearl hated food!"

"She does. But I'm not Pearl. I'm... _more_ than Pearl, you could say."

Steven frowned. "But Pearl's still great, of course," he assured, though he sounded like he was trying to convince Opal of that fact.

To which the Fusion forcefully answered back (or as forcefully as Opal could manage with her soft voice), "Of course she is! Oh, how to put this. I've, well, never really had an _opinion_ on Pearl's character before, not before having to split up anyway. I'm just happy to be here for longer than ten minutes, Steven." Unbeknownst to her, but to Steven, glancing down he saw Amethyst look away from the pair with her arms crossed. "I guess you could say, I'm just the best of both Pearl and Amethyst's personalities, the factors that a _gree_ with one another, so to speak."

Steven beamed, remembering similar words from Garnet. "That's why you're so great!" he echoed back to that time.

But unlike Garnet's smile, so proud of herself and flattered by Steven, Opal's was weighed down with a noticeably heavy heart. "Yeah." She whispered, "...Sometimes."

Amethyst briskly passed Steven and Opal, arms secured around herself.

Steven leaned over from his perch, hand outstretched, mouth prepped to speak but the words died on his lips in an instant. When he whirled around on Opal, eyes pleading to her, she too had watched with heartbreak so clear, that it only hurt Steven more when she quickly gathered herself upon noticing him and offered a most desperate smile in reassurance.

To describe the next few moments as tense would be the understatement of the day, especially when it grew too uncomfortable for even Opal to bear and she suddenly cried out, "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay." Amethyst didn't even look back.

Steven could only watch, confused. Just what was bothering Amethyst? What had she and Opal talked about? It hurt Steven in more ways than one. It hurt having to assume this was not his place to pry - this was between a Gem and her Fusion, the most personal of all relationships, at least in Steven's mind. It hurt knowing nothing he could say would cheer up his favorite Quartz.

Well, except for _one._

Steven tapped Opal's wrist twice, and then gestured to the ground when he got her attention. Opal glanced up to Amethyst, and then back to Steven, and smiled sadly with a single nod before lowering him down.

She understood what he was ready to do, because Opal was part of Amethyst, and Amethyst part of Opal, and so she knew how Steven could lift her spirits in his own, Steven-y way.

Once his feet hit the ground, he plodded after Amethyst and glommed her in a big, mushy hug. "I love you, Amethyst!"

She almost fell over from the attack, voicing a whoop of surprise as she did but Amethyst was quick to recover and cackled along with him, playfully returning the hug with an arm squeezed around his shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, don't get all sappy on me bro." She coolly played it off, but when the moment settled and Steven saw her cheeks sitting on a small, unmissable smile, and even felt her lean into the embrace, he knew his job was done.

And just in time, it seemed, for as soon as they pulled away they heard Stevonnie call out. "Hey, slowpokes!" They followed the echo - she was standing at the top of a slope ahead, waving her arms at them. "We're waitin' on ya!"

Steven and Amethyst exchanged a look of broad grins _._ Both had their arms cocked, prepared to race, when Opal suddenly came and scooped both of the smaller Gems up. "I got you," she said, smirking herself. With the smaller Gems secured beneath her lower arms, Opal cleared the slope in easily a quarter of the time it would have taken them otherwise.

She put them down upon reaching the top. Mouths agape, eyes frozen on the sight before them, Steven and Amethyst did not even register that they were dropped on their butts.

"Steven, is this real?" Amethyst whispered.

The child could not speak, his eyes blinking several times as if trying to answer in Morse-code.

Meanwhile, Stevonnie was jogging away, singing, " _We're BACK!"_

"And you've found Opal," said Sapphire, floating over to meet her halfway. "Good. I feared the possibility that we would split up further, and have to send out a search party."

Across the way, a red speck that looked very much like Ruby ran head-on (quite literally) into a purple mass splayed out across the canyon. "C'mon Sugilite, look sharp! Your biggest fans are here!"

"Ugh, _finally!_ " The very Earth seemed to tremble as the mass that was Sugilite pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her head swiveled to where the two teeny, tiny Gems still sat with their jaws on the floor, and her perpetual sneer deepened. "There you shrimps are! Been waiting a million years!" Sugilite's boisterous voice echoed hollowly in the Kindergarten.

"I'm just relieved there's no apparent damage," Alexandrite murmured, though she still shocked the still air of the Kindergarten with words alone. The Fusion sat her humongous self against a hole-riddled wall, her two lowest sets of arms hugging her legs in close. Even like this, seated afar, her size was quite imposing. Yet the tiniest, almost invisible of smiles appeared for Steven and Amethyst - they've yet to move from their spot. "No physical damage, at least," she teased.

Steven blushed, and he tried to speak but he sputtered like a fool and got himself tongue-tied.

"I will meditate with you, Alexandrite, if you don't mind," Opal announced, and when the multi-Fusion wordlessly shook her head she made a big leap across their "camp" and landed beside her. Opal landed crisscross, her four hands clasped together and face drawn into an expression of calm.

Steven gaped, still finding difficulty in expressing himself with words.

He had precious little time to find his voice, as out of nowhere him and Amethyst both were scooped up and very nearly squashed by a familiar, freckled face. "THERE'S MY WORST GEMS!" roared Smoky Quartz. Her single eye beheld them, bouncing eagerly between them like a big, shimmering pinball. "Oh my gosh, look at the two of you!"

The Fusion who was supposedly now a singular Gem pushed her face into Steven's neck, making him squirm and giggle and try to push her away, while Smoky's third arm ruffled Amethyst's wild mane, eliciting a similar response from her. "Gosh, God, _golly!"_ she gushed. "You're both just so _small_ and _unexpected_ and totally, absolutely _perfect_!"

"Hi Smoky! You're great too!" Steven airily exclaimed, his ruddy cheeks shining with sweat.

Smoky Quartz squeezed him to her barrel and shook the boy around like he were a doll. "Your voice is as cute and tiny as I thought it would be!" she gushed over Steven's whoops of delight.

"You forgettin' someone?!" Amethyst laughed.

Smoky, somehow, managed to contain her spirit and grin into a playful smirk. "Oh, oh-hoh I sure as sugar didn't forget about this meatball's big sis! _C'mere!_ " Her third fist drove into Amethyst's hair, rendering the Quartz a mess of giggles and feeble attempts at trying to fight back. Smoky took turns rubbing her knuckles into their noggins, and the two Gemlings laughed with her, kicking uselessly and trying to move their heads away from her noogie-assault. Smoky only squeezed them tighter. "Nuh-uh, you ain't escaping this, little ones! I gotta make up for lost time!"

"And so do I!" Amethyst cried, managing to free one arm.

"Amethyst," said Steven, "go for the belly! That's my weak spot!"

"Oh, little traitor!" Smoky gasped.

"On it!" Amethyst wasted no time in raking her fingers along Smoky's exposed stomach.

Her reaction was immediate; Smoky doubled over, laughing heartily. " _Ohohoholow blow,_ " the Fusion giggled before rolling back, freeing Steven and allowing him to join in on the torture.

Smoky was quick to submit. "Sto', _stoppit_! I yield!" she wheezed. Amethyst and Steven stepped back, allowing Smoky to sit up.

Their Fusion gazed at the two of them, the look of pure jubilance on her face before she scooped them both up once more into a mighty hug. The two of them laughed into her neck as they tried circling their arms around it, a process which resulted in Amethyst resting her hand on top of Steven's.

Smoky meanwhile couldn't stop giggling. "Hey, hi, ah how's it goin'? Whoof, rascals, the two of you..." Smoky breathed sweet nothings to the two of them, her raspy voice gentle as an older sister's, and warm as a Christmas fire. "Sorry-not-sorry," Smoky laughed. She sniffled, one finger rubbing each of her eyes. "I'm just, I'm so happy to see you guys!"

"And we're happy to see you too!" Steven was muffled by her shirt.

They remained like this for several moments before another Gem spoke - a voice quite expressive, articulate, and phenomenal at making Steven forget how to breathe: "Well, well, well, well, _well!_ What is this? Why, if it isn't little Steven Universe, my number one fan!" A gloved hand opened before him; with starry-eyes Steven followed the arm up to the gap-toothed grin of a most lovely Fusion. "How're ya doin' tonight?"

"Sardonyx!" Steven cried, climbing up her hand.

"Yes and yes, that _is_ my name! Greetings and a hearty sal-u-tations!" Sardonyx reached one arm up and around her own shoulder, offering it to Steven who took her middle finger with both hands and shook.

"It's good to see you again!" he said.

Sardonyx's eyes lit up, as they always did when she got excited. "And you as well, Mr. Universe! Meeting you is always, dare I say, _out of this world?_ "

"Boo!" Sugilite jeered. "Weak sauce!"

Sardonyx threw her head back and groaned quite dramatically. "Yes, yes, not my best material, I know. But not to worry, this show's running twenty-four-seven from now on, everybody! _Oh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh!_ "

Steven chuckled with her. "I thought it was pretty funny! Even though 'Mr. Universe' was my Dad's stage name."

"Oh Steven, you are always the little charmer! I could just pinch your itty-bitty cheeks off right now." Sardonyx lightly clamped two fingers on Steven's face and shook him around, eliciting a laugh from the boy.

"Hey, let me see him now," Sugilite demanded, holding out one hand.

"Hi, Sugilite!" Steven waved cheerfully, while Amethyst pumped her fist in the air, whooping, "The beast is outta the cage foe- _evah!"_

"You know it!" The Fusion sneered. "Now get over here, you two! Lemme get a good look at my other half."

Sardonyx tsk'd as she crouched down and released Steven. "This boy is no boy-toy, Sugilite darling. Only if he offers you his _ex_ - _press_ permission, should you handle him! And when he asks you to put him down, you'd do well to heed his honeyed voice!"

" _Yeesh,"_ Sugilite got down on one knee, offering both Steven and Amethyst her massive hand. "You go a little nuts once and they'll never let you forget it."

"No. We won't." Sugilite flinched quite unexpectedly, and her fifth eye shot open before she was looking over her shoulder at the towering figure of Alexandrite. "Be gentle with them. Or I will rip your hair out and make you eat it."

The two Fusions stared one another down, both gazes imperceptible by their respective shades, until finally Sugilite grunted with a roll of her eyes - a feat only noticed by her uncovered fifth. "Yeah, whatever." Her grin returned as her gaze did to Steven and Amethyst. "So do I have your absolute, expressed, one-hundred percent permission to friggin' _talk_ to you guys? See, I'm being crystal-clear like dolly over there," one of her thumbs jutted back to Sardonyx, whom gasped and fumed in quiet, "wants me to be, so there's no way you guys will explode or whatever she thinks'll happen."

Sardonyx groaned and rolled all four of her eyes. "Please, the little ones will not 'ex- _plode_ '," she enunciated with two hands forming quotations, "they will however become very uncomfortable and even _terrified_ if you get angry again when they ask you to stop! Given your rather _embarrassing_ track record, _I_ , for one, am not surprised!"

Sugilite grumbled under her breath. "Yeah, yeah, I got a surprise for you right here you fake."

Behind her, Sardonyx's eyes flared open, but quickly settled into a icy-cool simmer. "There's never anything surprising about being an enormous brute. Or impressive at that."

Sugilite whirled around on her, muscles tense as a coiled spring. "You got somethin' to say to me, pencil-neck?"

Sapphire put a hand on the purple Fusion's calve. "Calm down, Sugilite. Sardonyx, be thoughtful."

She spoke over her softspoken pleads, however. "Oh, sure, I have plenty to say to you, much and more! For one: the next time you decide to be a beach bully, actually pick on someone your own size! Good luck finding somebody though, oh-hoh-hoh-hoh!"

Sugilite stomped closer, four fists curled. "I think I've found one right here."

"If I must! A simple _bonk_ on the head will do." In a flash Sardonyx had her warhammer out, and demonstrated with a light tap on Sugilite's fuming head before tossing it in the air and detonating it into a swarm of dragonflies. "If I recall correctly," she tittered with a cheeky roll of the eyes.

Her opponent snarled like a beast. "I'm gonna split that gaptooth wide open if ya don't stop grinning like that!"

"Like what?" Sardonyx beamed. "Sorry Sugilite, but I _cannot_ hear you over all that beastly panting and growling you are doing!"

Steven leaned over and whispered to whoever was closest to him, "It's like a giant Pearl and a giant Amethyst arguing." Except both were much crueler than their respective counterparts, in their own ways.

It just so happened that it was Amethyst who replied, grumbling, "You're tellin' _me."_ Steven could only blush and smile apologetically at his mistake, except she did not seem phased by his words, merely she watched the two Fusions with almost a bored look in her eye.

"You wanna rumble?" Sugilite challenged.

"Oh, and there she goes! Proving my point!"

"Proving _WHAT_?!"

Just when the words looked ready to turn to punches, a gravelly voice cut over their bickering.

" _That's enough_." In an instant Alexandrite was between them, second mouth baring teeth with two hands around both Fusions' throats. "Time out, you two!" She proceeded to _slam_ their heads together, whirl around, and fling them to opposite ends of the canyon. Alexandrite turned back to Steven and Amethyst before either hit the ground, leering towards them with all six of her hands supporting her. "Apologies. They're idiots." Sugilite and Sardonyx impacted the Earth in a burst of dust and stone.

Steven spat out laughing, not prepared to hear Alexandrite of all Fusions to say what everyone else was thinking, while Amethyst merely nodded with her arms folded, "S'cool."

"I'm gonna go check on them." Smoky Quartz, who had watched the fight unfold with as much worry as her counterparts, jogged to where Sardonyx fell. Stevonnie followed, splitting to where Sugilite had landed.

"Really, thank you Alexandrite." Garnet emerged from underneath the humongous Fusion, patting her on the wrist. " _That_ was getting annoying."

"Indeed," Sapphire came over, Ruby's hand in her's. "Their Rubies were definitely in control back there."

"No doubt about it," Garnet agreed.

"Dude, you seein' this?" Amethyst whispered to Steven, to which the boy replied, "You mean the potential for double Garnets? Yes!" Amethyst snickered and playfully flicked him in the temple.

Ruby gaped at them in shock, offended, but snickered upon seeing their shared grin. "Oh, you jerks!" She summoned her gauntlet and lightly bopped them each - Sapphire in the shoulder and Garnet, slightly harder, in the shin.

"Easy now," the Fusion teased, her calve rubbing against where she was punched. "You might accidentally start something."

"Garnet!" Steven cried. Him and Amethyst ran over to greet her, the boy latching onto a leg.

"Hello, you two," Garnet said warmly, leaning over to pat them both on the head. "I'm relieved to see you two are well. There's no telling what that Blue-Eye may have done to us."

Amethyst pulled away. "Ugh, are we really calling it that?"

"Steven named it, and no one's thought of anything else." Garnet lifted her hands. "You think of something better, feel free." Amethyst hummed for a moment, hands behind her head, but concluded with a grunt and a dispassionate shrug.

"I trust that Stevonnie and Opal..." Garnet hummed for moment, "...eased you into all this craziness."

They both nodded. "This is insane, right Garnet?" wondered Steven.

"This isn't just insane," she said. "It's impossible. At least you weren't overwhelmed by everybody and passed out."

"That happen to you?" Amethyst asked doubtfully.

Garnet straightened up. "No."

"She means not from everybody." Ruby leaned against one leg.

Sapphire hugged the other. "Just us."

"It was all going fine until we came into the picture," Ruby explained.

Far into the distance, they heard Sardonyx faintly yell, " _I guess you could say, she slept like a ROCK! OHH-hoh-hoh!"_

Ruby snickered. "I swear she has a joke sensor, no matter where she is." She shook her head.

"She does, dear," said Sapphire, peeking around Garnet's leg. "It's called Future Vision."

Garnet, Ruby, and Sapphire shared a very similar chuckle, soft as a butterfly's wings.

Steven smiled at the sight, but stopped when a thought suddenly hit him. "Wait, Garnet, is... I need to know, are you, you know... ours?" He finished awkwardly, then gestured with his hands. "You know?"

A quiet look was exchanged between the three Gems, wherein a sad gaze lingered between Ruby and Sapphire. Steven frowned, but his mood brightened somewhat when Garnet answered, "I understand Steven, and yes, I am your Garnet."

"Does this mean we could have two Garnets?!" he asked excitedly.

Yet Ruby only looked away, her face crestfallen. "Steven, it's... complicated. And weird. We'll... We'll explain more once Pearl gets here, promise.

"Which will be very soon." Sapphire approached her partner and wrapped both arms around her toned bicep. Ruby laid her head against her's, eyes closed as Sapphire began to hum a familiar tune. "Now, in fact," she uttered moments later.

Right on cue, Pearl appeared climbing over the rightmost face of the slope, behind her, a Fusion Steven had never seen before, but swore he has. "Oh!" She was given a startle at the sight before her, eyes dancing to each of the Fusions that were now advancing on her, before finally freezing on the now-crisscross form of Alexandrite. "Oh my," she breathed, "this is so much to take in!"

A massive figure landed right in front of Pearl with such precision, though carelessly kicking up dust and rendering her a coughing mess. Yet the discomfort on her face was quickly replaced with awe as she took in who it was, gracefully straightening up before her. "Opal!"

"It's nice to finally meet you," she replied with a four-armed curtsy.

Pearl beamed in awe before mirroring the gesture. "My, you're even more elegant in person!"

Opal laughed. "I try," she said, clapping her hands together. "When we get the chance, I'd like to do something fun with you, Pearl. Perhaps dancing, if that's agreeable."

She received a knowing smirk in return. "You _know_ you don't need to ask."

The tall Fusion shrugged bashfully. "Well, not _all_ the time." Pearl and Opal shared light, delicate titters, before another voice exploded over them with such bombast.

"Pearl!" Sardonyx spun over, striking a pose with her hands splayed out, "My one and only!"

"Goodness, Sardonyx! How unexpected!" Pearl giggled hysterically as her Fusion took hold of both hands, one in each of her's, and twirled her around with her disjointed upper body. The two whooped in delight. "It's hard to believe it's really you!" she cried after being set down, hair splayed in all directions.

"Believe it, deary!" Sardonyx spun her upper torso with flourish, keeping her eyes trained on Pearl. " _I'm as real as it gets._ Or, as real as a mass of light _could_ get! Oh-hoh-hoh-hoh!" Pearl, of course, laughed with her, and was the only one to do so.

"Whassup P?" Smoky Quartz walked over and gave Pearl a firm pat on the back, Stevonnie leaning against her arm. "Long time, no see. Not that you _would_ want to see me, eh?"

Pearl playfully pushed her away. "Oh, stop it you!"

"Hey, can't help that I'm a train wreck: impossible to stop once it's goin', and ya don't wanna look away! Am I right?" Pearl, Sardonyx, Stevonnie and Smoky Quartz shared a chuckle.

"What're you nerds laughing about?" Sugilite shook the Earth as she dropped onto four fists, her single, uncovered eye trained on Pearl.

A quiet settled on the Kindergarten.

The smaller Gem put on a smile, though her unease was clear. "S-Sugilite, it's... _nice,_ to see you again."

Her eyes checked Pearl out, though it moved more like a twitch when taking in her small frame. "Good to see you're okay."

Pearl stammered, quite taken aback she almost forgot to respond. "Oh! Th-Thank you, I-"

"You trick anybody into Fusing with you lately?" A sneer splayed across Sugilite's mug.

The jovial atmosphere quickly turned cold - Smoky looked away, a wary look in her eye; Alexandrite frowned; Sardonyx tapped two hands together, while the other pair folded across her chest; Garnet averted her covered gaze, unseen by everybody else; Stevonnie shoved her hands in her pockets, idly kicking a stone aside; Ruby and Sapphire stepped closer to one another, blank looks on their faces.

Pearl could only shamefully lower her gaze.

"Enough." The Fusion who arrived with Pearl, standing as tall as Opal, stepped forward and placed a hand to ease her trembling shoulder. "We all make mistakes. You've had your own fair share of trip-ups, Sugilite. No need to bring everyone else down just because you feel bad." Her voice was deep, but motherly, and carried a tone that was commanding, but not condescending.

Sugilite registered her words for a spell, before looking away with a spat on the ground. "Yeah, whatever."

 _"Pearl!"_ Two voices cried as one. The called Gem looked over, and her eyes brightened at the sight of Steven and Amethyst running toward her, Garnet trailing behind with the small couple. She knelt down to receive a hug from Steven, and a friendly punch in the arm by Amethyst. Pearl glanced up when pat firmly on the shoulder by Garnet.

"I trust that you are fine," she posed.

Pearl responded with energy pushing every word, "I feel _great!_ "

"That's good." Garnet smiled.

She then glanced up at the Fusion standing behind Pearl with her hands on her hips. "Hello Garnet, Amethyst," she said.

Amethyst and Steven gazed upon her, the former flicking her head in that direction. "Rainbow Quartz," she said, her voice lacking its usual energy and now sounding particularly reserved. "Been a while."

"Yes... Fourteen years to be exact."

Steven could only gape in wonder - Rainbow Quartz! That's why she was so familiar! She was in his father's music video, when Pearl and his mom fused together and made it look super cool!

She looked exactly the same as he remembered - a white leotard etched with a four-pointed star, his mother's gem resting in her naval, complete with purple tights, pink leg warmers, and a sheer blouse to top it all off. Her hair was a plush mass of platinum-gold, and her skin a solid bronze.

Steven passed Pearl and approached her, her four eyes swiveling down to meet his as he did. Her face was unreadable, no warmth or coldness to be seen, so Steven was unsure of how to proceed. Never meeting her before, and because she was a Fusion consisting of his mom, Steven's tried and true greeting fell a little on the timid side. "H-Hi, I'm Steven. I saw you in my Dad's music video once." He smiled. "You're a really good dancer!"

"I know who you are." Her four eyes narrowed, and if Steven didn't know any better, she... must have been squinting to get a better look at him! Yeah!

Steven turned towards everyone else, his hands spread wide. "Okay then!" He smacked them together. "We're all here, right?"


	4. Interlude: Quartz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even after fourteen years, Pearl refuses to let go.

************

_**Warning: this chapter may be weird and uncomfortable for some readers. Note that while I intend to keep this story within the spirit of the show, like the show itself it will have its moments of disturbing humanity in it, but it will always be layered with that love and warmth that this show is known for. I hope this chapter does not discourage you.** _

* * *

"I know who you are." The four eyes of Rainbow Quartz narrowed upon seeing what her other half had been reduced to.

Nothing more foretold what she was thinking - her face was lax, plump lips set in their neutral pucker.

And yet Pearl felt her very core flash-freeze hearing Rainbow Quartz's first words to Steven spoken with such... neutrality.

She could do nothing more than put a hand to her cheek as she eyed her Fusion warily. Pearl could not help these feelings, even though she knew who Rainbow was, her capacity for love rivaled only by her tendency to be quite oblivious of others' feelings.

A trait inherited from both herself and Rose Quartz, Pearl realized with an all-too-familiar ache. Therefore, she knew by experience that Rainbow would do nothing to harm Steven, especially, stars forbid, _say_ anything that would hurt him; it just wasn't in her nature. And yet...

...everything was _different_ now, and not just because of the impossible miracle that was the Fusion of Pearl and Rose Quartz standing there in the flesh. Or light, as it were.

Because Pearl had never awakened cradled in the arms of her long-abandoned Fusion, the two of them staring into one another's eyes, stunned beyond the ability to speak.

Nor had either of them thought that Rainbow would _exist_ ever again, for it had been fourteen years, Pearl realized, since she had seen Rainbow Quartz one final, emotional evening in the Strawberry Battlefield with only Homeworld's galaxy bearing witness in the distant stars, seething as they partook in the blasphemous ritual that was cross-Gem Fusion.

One last time, Rose had said, before she and Greg were set to conceive a child. Two Gems died the day Steven Quartz Universe was born.

_Oh, Steven..._

Grasping one another by the arms, both seemingly came to these conclusions simultaneously - three pairs of eyes welled, and shaky smiles came to. Pearl never felt so connected with another Gem when the massive woman started to weep - not for Amethyst, or Garnet, or even Steven himself, because Pearl was suddenly filled with flashbacks of the heartache that Rainbow Quartz endured for others, knowing precisely how that biting hurt felt, like it was a parasite caving a way out of her chest.

"H-How...?" Pearl choked, refusing to gaze for too long into Rainbow Quartz's face, fearing it all a cruel illusion.

The Fusion rubbed her cheek into Pearl's hair, mussing it, just as Rose once did. "No questions," Rainbow had said, her voice smooth as syrup, and familiar as on old friend's. "I'm so happy to be here again."

Before Greg took everything from her.

Before Steven...

_Fourteen years._

Fourteen years of loneliness and regret came surging forth, and nothing could prevent Pearl's sobs from taking a turn for the ugly - hacking, angry, screaming, heartbroken, snotty. But Rainbow was there to squeeze it all out of her, humming in a voice so much like Rose's, but not completely.

Pearl couldn't help herself from thinking this way - never before had she dared dream of what it would feel like, to be held so lovingly against one's soft bosom once more.

_Against Rose's._

Pearl sighed shakily, but contentedly; this was it, she realized to her great relief, as they held one another so tenderly. _This was real._

Throughout it all, amidst a calm following the maelstrom of emotion swirling around Pearl's mind - from shock to nostalgia, heartbreak to bitterness quickly replaced with self-disgust, and all of it culminating into joy - came the emotion Pearl had not realized she'd been missing for fourteen long, lonely years:

That of lust.

In a sudden rush of feeling, her chest swelling, ready to burst, Pearl gripped the scratchy fabric of Rainbow Quartz's sheer top and, before the Fusion could react, she smashed their lips together. Pearl parted slightly before pressing in for another, her head tilted. It did not immediately occur to her that she was moaning fervently against lips plump and lovely and so much like Rose Quartz's...!

Except, not... quite...

And suddenly, Pearl was back in the Strawberry Battlefield, as if she were performing a reenactment for all the ghosts of the Kindergarten.

But she held herself, eyes squeezed shut as tight as the fabric clutched in her hands, her damnably shaking hands quickly turning pale at the knuckles. Kneeling in Rose's wide, comfortable lap, she shifted herself and leaned in closer, her lips pressing harder. Her kisses were light, frantic, catching every little bit of their target like some great beast to be conquered.

If she hit the right spot, then maybe this wouldn't feel so wrong.

Two large hands gently gripped Pearl by the wrists. The warmth on her lips shied, just an inch. " _Pearl_..." Her breath was hot against her face.

Pearl shot forward, desperate to maintain the physical contact. Anything to make this moment last forever.

But it didn't last two seconds. " _Pearl_ ," a little more forcefully, "stop this. You know this isn't right."

Her memories added the rest: _"I'm to have a child soon, I must be faithful. This, This is unfair to me and horrible to Greg."_

And finally she willed her eyes to open, sudden as a wildfire. _"I DON'T CARE!"_ Her shrieks shuddered the still air of the Kindergarten, music to Pearl's realization that she wasn't with her beloved Rose.

Rainbow Quartz looked down at Pearl, her four eyes brimming, shimmering.

Pitying.

Pearl blinked, vacant, processing. Quickly came humiliation, flaring cyan across Pearl's face; more tears emerged, those different from joy or sadness, and she tried to force out an "I'm sorry" between hitching breaths uncontrollable as she ran an arm across her face.

Rainbow merely pulled the little Gem in, rubbing her back in smooth little circles. "It's okay," she cooed, like a mother hen. "You're not to blame, it's okay. _You're okay._ "

It was a while before the shock had finally worn off, and Pearl's sobs tapered into breathy sniffles as she cleaned her teal-glowing face. Rainbow Quartz set her down and sat across from her, crisscross. On her face, a small smile.

"Almost what I was expecting." Half her eyes winked.

Her tone was playful, but all Pearl could do was avoid her gaze, ashamed. "Ugh." She brought a hand to her gem. "What is wrong with me?"

"Fourteen years of repressed emotion suddenly rushing back." The Fusion tapped the rainbow quartz stone resting on her forehead.

A dry chuckle, "Nhn, right."

Rainbow's brow furrowed slightly, her voice still soft but a seriousness complimented it. "I can't imagine what it must feel like, Pearl. The others argued I should have stayed behind, let someone else be with you for when you wake up." Her gaze fell. "I... know it would have been worse for you," their gazes met, "if we didn't get this over with now."

Pearl's eyes shimmered, reflecting upon Rainbow's words, and with that came most a grateful smile. Nothing more needed to be spoken, as they both understood.

That is until something else Rainbow Quartz had said struck hard in Pearl's mind, and she felt a looming sense of anticipation as to what it might be.

"...Did you say, 'others?'"

And Rainbow Quartz explained:

_The Blue-Eye._

_Unconscious for hours._

_WE carried you out._

_The others._

_All of us._

**_Fusions._ **

Pearl had to sit herself down as the reality of it all walloped her in the gem - this was real, there were more Fusions, and, to her great relief, Pearl's teammates were okay.

There was only one thing she could say as to not pass out. "I... do hope I'm not dreaming," she joked lightly, tittering, though worry still edged her every word.

Rainbow smiled. "As do I. It'd be a very cruel dream if that were the case."

"And Amethyst would _never_ let me hear the end of it."

Together, the two Gems laughed.

* * *

Watching Steven now, face to face with his mother's Fusion, Pearl could only watch, frozen with fear in anticipation as to what may happen with this confrontation. The others seemed to notice Rainbow's coldness as well - Smoky winced, her gaze cast to the side; Alexandrite grimaced; Garnet clenched her hands as if ready to bring out the gauntlets.

"Okay then!" Steven clapped his little hands together, turning to everybody else. "We're all here, right?"

Pearl sighed in relief - he didn't notice a thing. She shook her head; oh, how Steven could be so wonderfully innocent.

To Steven's question several of the Fusions exchanged glances, their faces blank. "Yeah," shrugged Smoky, "sure dude!" Several murmurs rose up in agreement.

"Yep!" Ruby spoke out. "That's it, all of _us_! We're _all_ here!" She chuckled quite awkwardly.

To which Rainbow clapped her hand over her face, Sugilite barked out a laugh and Alexandrite hummed, all while Sapphire could only sigh lovingly and assumedly rolled her eye.

"Nobody likes overdoing a joke, Ruby," tutted Sardonyx. The little red Gem could only blush and scratch the back of her head.

Pearl cocked a brow and shot a sidelong glance over to Amethyst, who mirrored back with a shrug as if to say, _"I don't know what the heck they're talking about."_

* * *

**This was originally supposed to be a part of another whole chapter, but tonally it just clashed with everything else happening, and this interaction between Pearl and Rainbow needed to happen. On top of that, I want to keep the main bulk of chapters following Steven, like in the show.**

**Any time a chapter doesn't follow him will be a short interlude, like this.**

**Apologies if this made people uncomfortable, that was kind of the intent though; I needed to drive home where the two stood in this relationship.**

 


	5. Not All That Glitters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some drawbacks to what the Blue-Eye had done.

Ruby's behavior was odd, but Steven did not care as much as his teammates did. He couldn't! In its struggled to comprehend the colorful array of Gems that now stood before him, his little head felt ready to burst at the seams. He swiveled this way and that, catching Sardonyx's flashy smirk while seconds later seeing Rainbow Quartz gaze upon him with a flat look and folded arms, before her standing at a near shoulder-level, Smoky whispered something to Stevonnie, something funny enough to make her shoulders bounce as she tried forcing back a grin.

Steven couldn't help himself, a delighted noise bubbled from his belly - a high, rousing sound quite the unusual divergence from the boy's iconic belly-laugh. "I just, I can't believe how _amazing_ this is!" he gushed when they looked at him curiously. "Never in my life had this been something I really wanted! But it is! _And it's REAL!_ " Steven threw his hands up, laughing childishly while chanting "You're real!" as he stomped around several tree trunk sized legs.

As a parent would a young child, the larger Fusions gingerly lifted their feet away from him, amused by the boy's antics but apparently not trusting themselves not to hurt him.

"How _is_ this possible?" Pearl wondered, watching Stevonnie snag the cackling child attempting to scale Alexandrite's shin, all while under the guise of it being a game as she growled " _Gotcha!_ "

"We're in as much of a loss as you are," said Alexandrite. All eyes were on her now; her voice, even as a murmur, rocked the very air. "We did not exist," she held out one half of her arms, "and then we did," followed by the other.

Sardonyx suddenly hopped out in front of the Crystal Gems, striking a dramatic pose.

"And THERE we were!"

"Oh, _here we go,_ " Sugilite muttered.

"Awake, alive, and ready for action! But quickly our vigor depleted, for not a heartbeat passed before a peculiarity crossed our minds. That is to say, nothing! Our minds were effectively blank! Understand this, Steven: when a Fusion is brought forth it is when our components have a goal in mind! A communication hub, or, dare I say, a dinner with parents?" Seated crisscross, engrossed in Sardonyx's tale, Steven giggled at the memory.

The showman threw her head back in despair, hand to her gemstone. "Oh, I cannot begin to tell you of the utter _embarrassment_ I felt! To be onstage without a script! And to have an audience larger than what I am used to! How, I wondered, could the little darlings Ruby and Sapphire exist while I did simultaneously? Since when did Connie join us, I pondered, for Stevonnie, while not an unwelcome sight, was currently hunched over the unconscious body of, oh, gasp and _horror_!" She slapped two hands over her cheeks; Steven mimicked her, truly invested. "Steven!? Pearl! How could this _be_?! What did the Blue-Eye do?! Surely, I thought, this was the work of those no-good Diamonds and their scandalous experiments!"

" _We get it! Move on!_ " Sugilite hollered.

Sardonyx blushed, then coughed into her fist with two hands on her hips. "Some Gems, honestly..." She returned her attention to the Crystal Gems, no longer speaking with flair and theatrics. "In short, we were hopelessly, _utterly_ confused. With our situation, and ourselves. We felt... _directionless,_ but most importantly _,_ incredibly worried for the well-being of our counterparts. None of you so much as moved an inch, and dear Alexandrite wouldn't let any of us so much as lay a _finger_ on your bodies. We spent an awful amount of time holed up in that _dreadful_ Blue-Eye chamber, bickering among ourselves, our confusion and fears clouding our judgement from what was most important."

"But not me!" Smoky jutted a thumb to herself. "I picked you guys up, and then smashed through a wall!"

"And Smoky picked you up, then smashed through a wall. Yes." Sardonyx nodded.

Garnet stepped forward, arms crossed over her chest. "A directionless Fusion." She spoke in a way that could only be described as nostalgic. "That must have been new."

"It was a little disconcerting," agreed Opal. "I kept expecting myself to just... wake up, at a moment's notice. Think of what to do, I don't know. Instead I just... froze." She sighed, sounding quite disappointed in herself. Smoky gave a reassuring pat on the back of her leg.

"Well, I liked it." Sugilite folded her arms, another placed their hands on her hips. "Finally didn't have to worry about other people's crap. Just my own."

"I understand completely," Garnet called up to her, amusement evident in her tone.

Sugilite reciprocated with a laugh. "I always knew you were cool, Garnet."

"I agree with Sugilite." It seemed that whenever Alexandrite spoke, all stopped what they were doing and turned to her. "It was nice. The quiet."

"Wait." Alexandrite moved her head to look down at Steven, then squatted to get a better look. A sweat had quickly formed before he shied away from her gaze, twiddling his fingers, but he kept his eyes locked on the child reflected in her visor as he asked, "Does this mean that you guys aren't, well... really yourselves? Like, you only work when your Gems have something to do?" The way Steven spoke, one would think he was asking something incredibly offensive.

But Pearl knelt down beside him, and smothered these bad feelings with her hands on his shoulders. "Oh Steven, don't be silly. It's not like Fusions are _machines_ or anything."

A hand ruffled his hair - he looked to find Garnet gazing down on him. "You've Fused before. Would you say they're like machines?" She gazed over, and Steven followed - Stevonnie and Smoky Quartz offered big grins and two thumbs-up (three in Smoky's case). Steven wore a smile that he brought back to Garnet.

"Of course not," he said with such conviction that when Garnet smirked upon hearing this, she may as well have been grinning wide.

"Steven, do you remember when we first met? When we went to find the Heaven Beetle?" Opal had emerged from the crowd and sat crisscross beside Steven; Pearl stepped away so her Fusion could lay the fingers of one hand on his back.

"I do." Steven smiled fondly as he leaned into her touch.

The corners of Opal's lips rose ever so slightly. "I was so excited to finally meet you. But at the same time I was, and Pearl and Amethyst, were... well, we were _scared,_ Steven. We-"

" _What?_ " Opal stopped; Steven was staring, gaping-awe emptying near half his face. " _You_ were scared? You're Opal! You're always so calm, and confident, and _stuff_!"

Ashen blush dusted Opal's cheeks. "You're too much, Steven Universe. True, I may be calm, and confident, and focus and precise and, most certainly, quite a hefty amount of _stuff,_ " she emphasized with a wink, making the boy giggle. "Yet all of that, it's on the outside. But inside, what we're really feeling can never be denied."

Steven nodded, stars in his eyes. "Pearl and Amethyst hide what they feel inside all the time!"

A quiet settled on the Kindergarten, broken up only by Smoky Quartz's whistling, and Rainbow sighing into her hand; Pearl was rigid while mulling over this.

A cackle from Sugilite abruptly cut through the silence. "HAH! Nice one!"

Pearl muffled a groan into her hand while Amethyst just sighed, "Thanks, Opal."

The Fusion appeared completely oblivious as she continued. "We couldn't help but feel at least a _little_ nervous. Why, you put so much buildup into finally seeing me, all these fears would have made me split up on the spot had we not been in danger. What if you didn't like me? What if I was too weird-looking? What if I wasn't giant enough?!" With each scenario Opal lurched closer to Steven, until the last one where she played her fingers into Steven's belly and watched in amusement as he squirmed away. Several chuckles rose from the audience around them.

Steven was panting and glowing red as he recovered from Opal's tickle-attack. "But you had nothing to worry about!" he assured her, catching his breath. "You were, like, a _bazillion_ times better than I thought you'd be! You were totally awesome, with the way you shot that bow! And you were fast, and beautiful too!"

Opal pulled her head back, her eyes twinkling like ice on a warm spring day.

Her face became flushed seconds later when she broke out into uncontrollable giggling. "I suppose I am! Or, I should say," two arms shot out suddenly, pulling a yelping Amethyst and Pearl closer to her, " _we_ are pretty awesome, are we not?"

"Totally!" Steven gushed. "It only makes sense; two amazing Gems make one amazing Fusion? It's like peanut butter and jelly!"

Amethyst shifted to hide her blush behind a wall of hair, but Pearl wore her's on her sleeve - leave it to Steven to make someone feel like they were the center of the universe.

Opal's glowing slowly faded, though, as the seconds ticked by where no one said anything. Except Steven didn't seem to mind, he was still balled up in Opal's hand with a big, nostalgic smile on his face.

They were just staring at one another.

"Um, Opal?" Pearl ventured.

The Fusion straightened up. "Oh! Why was I telling this again?"

Amethyst smacked herself in the forehead.

"Something about robots," Smoky offered, taking a boxer's stance. " _Fighting_ robots, I think." She wound her arm up and walloped some invisible foe in front of her, going, "POW!"

Sapphire floated over and gently lowered Smoky's fist. "No, no," she cooed. "Steven understands. It's fine. Besides, Fusion is nothing at all like controlling a robot."

Sardonyx shook her head, resting a hand atop her friend's messy hair. "No, no, no, of course not! Think of Fusion as one big act: where there is a stage, a script, and a brain _be-hind_ the mask," she said with a mimicking gesture. She looked around to the blank faces staring back at her. "Really?" she posed rather flatly. " _None_ of you get it?"

"We do," replied Sapphire, now an indiscernible blue blob to Steven as she landed gracefully on the tip of Sardonyx's nose. "But it isn't necessary. Opal explained in perfectly."

"Wait, I'm lost." Stevonnie shook her head. "What exactly did Opal explain?"

"We have our own identity," Alexandrite clarified at apparent random, but Steven knew that in her mind, Alexandrite was merely trying to give him the simple answer he originally desired to stop this inane line of conversation, something that all four of the Crystal Gems could quietly agree upon. "There are no robots or masks."

But sadly, Alexandrite was never good at speaking to others.

And tragically, Ruby was present.

"Wait, r-robots? _Masks_?" Ruby clenched her eyes shut, twin wisps of smoke seeping from their corners. "I thought we were talking about Opal!"

" _I_ thought we were sharing embarrassing stories." Sugilite had taken to lying down on her stomach, her head propped in two hands. She knew this was going to be a while.

Clearly, she was the smartest one present.

"Ruby, calm!" Stevonnie was down on one knee, shaking the little red Gem by her shoulders. "You're confusing poor Steven so bad it's making _me_ wanna split!"

"Confusing _him_? What about me?!"

"Please relax, Ruby."

" _You_ relax, Sapphire!"

Steven had begun to sweat as his attention swiveled to whatever Gem had their turn, all while Opal mimicked his motions, who Pearl watched absorb the Fusions' input with quite the owl-like stare. None could tell from looking at her, but Pearl knew Opal - and she knew all too well that behind her cloudy, thousand-yard gaze, the Fusion's mind was a toilet of jumbled ideas: messy and fleeting, sharing her counterparts' tendency to just lock up when overwhelmed with information.

Sighing, Alexandrite rose to her feet, her form a silhouette against the dreary, grey sky. "Not doing this in front of Steven," was all she said before her six hands reached out - one picked up Smoky, and another Stevonnie, both whooped in delight as they were deposited into a mane of electric-blue hair.

"What's happening now?" Steven asked.

A third hand gently clutched a screaming little bean that must have been Ruby. "Finish your business with Opal and the rest of your teammates." Sardonyx cried out in protest when one nearly touched her hair, and she made her own departure across the plateau, grumbling something along the lines of, "like an undignified Gem." The rest grabbed Sugilite by the leg. Without even so much as a grunt, Alexandrite began to drag her away.

"We're all going to have a nice, long, chat," Alexandrite announced.

Her capture began raking her fingers into the stone, just to make the struggle all the more difficult. "The hell do ya think you're doing?" snarled Sugilite. Alexandrite did not respond. "I CAN WALK! Don't treat me like I'm some sorta incompetent!"

Alexandrite abruptly dropped her leg, "Then don't act like one," and she walked off. Sugilite froze, her one eye blinking several times before she pushed herself up and followed after her in a light jog, snarling.

A quiet settled on the remaining Gems, that being Steven and his family, Opal, Rainbow Quartz, and Sapphire.

There was a long, tired sigh from Pearl. "This is too much." She rubbed her gem.

"I think it'll be fun," said Amethyst. "Things are gonna get _crazy_ at the Temple."

"Who said we're bringing them all to the Temple?" Pearl replied.

Yet Steven's eyes could probably encompass the cosmos with how wide they became. " _They are,"_ he whispered, thinking of all the possibilities. "I can't wait for Dad to meet everybody! And Connie, too! And Fryman, and Lars, and Lion, and Lapis and Peridot and Centipeetle! And next month, it'll be the Fourth of July! And after that is the Beach City Ball, and we can all go!"

Steven's fists trembled in excitement until they suddenly grabbed Sapphire by the shoulders. "Sapphire, I can't wait that long! You have to cryo-freeze me!"

"Okay." Sapphire lifted her hands, an icy mist engulfing them, when Garnet quieted the boy with a hand atop his curly head.

"Slow down, cutie pie. Let's take it one step at a time."

Steven giggled, taking several breaths to steady himself. "You're right. Gotta take it down a notch. I just can't help it, Garnet!" He gazed up at her, starry-eyed. "I can't stop thinking about all the fun stuff we're gonna do!"

A playful smirk surfaced on Garnet's lips. "How do you think I feel with Future Vision?"

"That must be _torture."_

"I can handle it."

Steven was in awe of Garnet's ability to keep it cool when Pearl suddenly hissed her name. " _D_ _o something!_ " she said.

All eyes fell on the scene before them - an orgy of color, limbs, and caterwauls.

Behind Steven, Amethyst snorted. "Good to see Alexandrite's talk went so well."

Stevonnie and Ruby had not calmed down - they were having a discourse in the form of "Who Can Embarrass Themselves the Loudest?" staged within the mane of Sugilite, of whom appeared to be fast asleep, as her fifth eye was drawn shut. Suspiciously enough, a snarling and flailing Smoky Quartz was pinned underneath one of her massive hands. How she ended up there was a mystery.

Sardonyx had been apparently helping, prodding Sugilite with the tip of her toe. Yet she gave up quickly and took to leaning casually against the sitting form of Alexandrite, babbling away as she shot gestures to the purple Fusion, likely making unsavory remarks about her, with only the occasional pause to laugh.

This was presumably at her own jokes.

Amidst it all, the towering Fusion looked quite neutral about it all, but it didn't take a lot of imagination to picture she must be howling inside.

"I don't think she talked at all," Opal noted.

"Ya think?" Amethyst's uncovered eye exchanged a playful look with her Fusion. "What makes you so sure?"

Obliviously, Opal replied, "I merely looked over and saw. I don't think Alexandrite calmed everybody down."

Rainbow sighed, a gentle, breezy sound. "No, she didn't. I saw - she just dropped them on the other side so we didn't have to hear their bickering. For that, I'm grateful. But Alexandrite's mind has always focused on the moment, never the future." Steven watched her as she began strolling towards them, her wide hips swinging at a hypnotic beat. "I'll get them under control."

" _Alright_!" Rainbow Quartz projected her voice over the squabbling, loud and commanding. "Okay everyone, break it up! Fun's over!" She clapped her hands several times as she walked towards the Gem pile. None heeded her commands, but they did not go ignored, for in her assistance to free Smoky (who now appeared quite at peace with her predicament), the second hand of Sugilite's left-sided pair came down on her, flattening her into the dirt.

Smoky tilted her head back. "Whassup, my colorful counterpart?"

"SUGILITE!" Rainbow Quartz hollered, pounding her fists into the dirt.

Garnet turned her head, ever so slightly, towards her more sane teammates. "I have never been so entertained."

Pearl dropped her head with a groan. Amethyst offered a pat on the shoulder, which Pearl thought was of sympathy, until she looked over to find her teammate donning the most wolfish grin she had seen in years while spectating the chaos before them. "This is hilarious," was all she said.

" _Garnet!_ " Pearl whined.

"Alright, alright," the Fusion relented, amused, as she leapt over to the quarreling Gem pile.

"Opal, Steven." Both Gems, along with Pearl and Amethyst, looked over to where Sapphire now stood with both hands folded over the front of her skirt. "I apologize for letting this get so out of hand. And Garnet does, too. She must have seen where this led as I have."

Opal smiled kindly. "It's okay, Sapphire."

Amethyst arrived at the blue Gem's side, hands behind her head. "Eh, I don't blame her. Never thought I'd see the day where _that_ was a thing." She cackled loudly, jutting a thumb to the scene before them - Alexandrite curb-stomping Sugilite, trying to put out the flames in her hair started by Ruby, of whom was now being shaken along with Stevonnie in a single purple fist. The other three pinned Sardonyx beneath her, who looked to be trying to save the two smaller Gems. Rainbow, Smoky, and now Garnet were hollering at Sugilite to calm her down.

"Like I said," continued Amethyst. "Never thought I'd see something like that."

"Nor did I." Sapphire pressed her fingertips together. "But there is much to discuss, and I feel like I'm the only one taking this situation seriously."

 _"STEVONNIE FIRE BOMB!"_ A blast of pink and red flame erupted from an impact-point on the canyon wall. From the smoke and rubble, the smoldering, cackling forms of Ruby and Stevonnie tumbled to the Earth.

"Nice pitch, Sugilite!" Garnet praised, exchanging a mighty high-five with her massive Fusion whose impact made both shake their wrists out, grinning to one another through their winces.

Sapphire let out a sigh that tapered off into a slight, almost invisible smirk on her plump lips. "As seriously as any of us can take this, at least. I am happy that they're all having fun though."

"Perhaps we should keep it that way?" Pearl suggested. "Over there, away from us, that is?" Though from her tone it sounded more as a hope than anything else.

"Definitely," agreed Sapphire. She turned to Steven, who was now sitting in Opal's lap, head nuzzled into her bosom. "Steven, are you okay?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

The brightness of his attitude gave Sapphire pause, until she relented with a gentle laugh of her own. "I truly have no idea. Nothing can ever keep you down, can it?"

"No, ma'am!" Steven chanted. "Especially not now! It's so cool seeing everybody here like this, even you and Ruby! How'd you guys feel when you met Garnet?"

The amusement in the blue Gem's face persisted for a few moments longer, before slowly it fled, and the next words she spoke were so quiet Steven almost didn't hear:

"Sad."

The enthusiasm was sucked out of his expression, quickly replaced with surprise, and then concern. "You're sad about meeting _Garnet_?" he asked, shocked himself. "How come?"

For several long, tense seconds, Sapphire only stood there - her face stoic, posture settled, hands clasped in front of her. Slowly, she brought them up to her lips, like a prayer.

At first Steven was confused, until a single, sharp sob came from the blue Gem.

His heart wrenched painfully to the sound. "Sapphire!" With speed he never knew he had, Steven rose from his spot on Opal's lap, brushing by his two concerned teammates as they closed in on their weeping teammate.

In an instant he had his arms wrapped around the shaking Gem, who reciprocated the gesture fiercely with her otherworldly Gem-strength.

They stayed like this for several moments, only until Sapphire ceased her trembling. Her sobbing quieted into dainty little sniffles, Steven pulled away from his friend, slow and gentle, his hands still gripping her upper arms. Though her eye was covered, a single track of wetness trailed down the middle of Sapphire's face.

Steven felt his chest tightened at the sight. "Just hold on, Sapphire," he assured her. "I'll go get Ruby!"

Before he could even take a step back, Sapphire had tightened her own grip on his shirt sleeves. "No, Steven, don't." It sounded as a command, and to the untrained ear it would be hard to tell with Sapphire. But with the emotion trembling her gentle voice, it was almost like a plead. "Steven, we're fine. It's okay. You don't need to concern yourself with this."

Steven looked at her, bewildered. "Yes I do!" he replied, adamantly. "Sapphire, whatever it is, I know you see yourself being okay with this in the future. And I'm sure you'll be fine in no time! Because you're strong, and you're really good at seeing the big picture when everyone else can't!" The Gem sniffled - the tears dampening her nose, lips, chin gradually began to solidify.

Though he smiled reassuringly at her, Steven took a serious tone but sounded no less loving as he implored her, "But I remember Keystone, and I know you do too. What you feel in the present _does_ matter, because if there's one thing Fusion training with Garnet taught me, is that not addressing your problems head-on will only tear you apart in the long run."

Sapphire stood before him, lips slightly parted, frozen as the tears on her face. They shattered completely when her expression twitched into a loving smile. A breath pushed itself from her chest, which Steven realized with a delayed reaction was a laugh. "When did you get so wise?" Sapphire wondered.

"That's Steven for ya." Amethyst playfully elbowed him in the side, eliciting a laugh from the boy.

"I just learned from the best," he replied. Sapphire did not respond to that, merely she reverted back to her stoic disposition, albeit a subtle blush on her cheeks.

So Steven took the opportunity to address the issue at hand, his voice gentle but urging. "So, what was so bad about seeing Garnet?"

"I don't think Garnet was the issue, Steven," sighed Pearl.

He looked up to her, fairly confused. "Huh?"

Sapphire shook her head. "Pearl is right, it wasn't. And as much as I appreciate your words of wisdom, Steven, the issue is something that has already been addressed between Ruby and I. Nothing can be done about it. Truthfully, I do not wish to remind her, at least not right this second." Sapphire cast her covered gaze across the stony plateau, where the other Gems mingled. Garnet seemingly brought peace to the once-squabbling Gems.

She chatted amiably with Rainbow Quartz, the smiles on their lips running with fourteen years of catching up to do. More specifically, Ruby was engrossed in the retelling of some kind of a story with Stevonnie and Sugilite, seemingly patching up whatever happened between the three of them when Steven wasn't looking.

Sapphire turned back to Steven and the others. She hummed softly, hands rubbing together as if washing them of whatever loathsome feeling she was experiencing.

"When," she hesitated, "Ruby and I awoke, well, she was the first to regain consciousness. I was still in a daze when she grabbed me by the shoulders, saying my name over and over again like a chant." Her cheeks darkened a deep blue. "I surprised her with a kiss, and immediately I felt her body relax, relieved that I was okay, as was I glad for her. I heard voices all around us - of Smoky, Stevonnie, Opal, the others - but I did not wonder for a second if this was _my_ Ruby. She was warm, and passionate and..."

A breathy chuckle from Amethyst. "Okay Saph, we don't need the play-by-play."

"Mhm, right," Sapphire cleared her throat. "But that's my point. The kiss we shared, it was so real, and so familiar, and I knew this was my Ruby and yet... yet it went on for too long. And to both our horror we realized... _we couldn't fuse._ "

Steven gasped, the enormity of this revelation shocked him so. On either side of him, Amethyst muttered "Oh, man..." and Pearl, "It's as I feared."

The child waited for someone, anyone, to come out with a possible solution to fix this. But, to his horror, none came. A sad quiet had settled on the group, not even a hopeful musing uttered between them.

"That... That can't be _true_!" Steven cried, and suddenly he found himself blinking back tears. "Maybe... what if you guys didn't try hard enough?"

"Steven!" Pearl snapped.

"We've been together for almost six-thousand years, Steven. We tried, believe me, we tried. And we never stopped, not even for a _second!_ " Sapphire stopped herself - her voice was rising, tremulous. She breathed deep to steady herself, calm herself.

"Everything around us just faded into the background, it was all we could do until Smoky Quartz broke down the wall. I can't even recall if the others tried talking to Ruby and I, we just... couldn't do it." Sapphire let out a quiet, little sigh, the icy-chill of her breath giving Steven goosebumps. "Ruby was so upset, too upset to think. It was only when Garnet woke up that she snapped out of it. I'm afraid to bring it up again around her. This is the happiest I've seen her since the Blue-Eye, I don't want to ruin that for her, I can't."

"Ruin what for who?" Sapphire straightened up at the voice suddenly behind her, but quickly she relaxed, melted almost, when a strong set of crimson hands grabbed her by the waist. "Hey babe." Ruby moved her hands up Sapphire's chest, embracing her close to smooch her on the cheek - the blue Gem sighed lovingly, her hair parted slightly to reveal an eye drawn shut in bliss.

The core of Steven's being warmed at the sight, one that was quickly covered by Pearl. Although this was hardly the naughtiest thing he'd seen these two do to show affection, the memory of Keystone surfacing in his mind. In truth, Steven had seen Ruby start walking over just as Sapphire began to explain what happened, but he didn't want the blue Gem to ruin what may have been a nice moment.

It was paying off, so far.

He peeked through the gaps of Pearl's fingers, witnessing Sapphire caress the back of Ruby's hands with her gloved fingers. Her partner planted a kiss in her snow-white hair, then moved to nuzzle her cheek affectionately.

"Oh, Ruby..." she moaned, mournfully.

"It's okay, Saph." Despite her words, Ruby's eyes were squeezed shut. Wisps of black smoke seeped out between them. "We're okay, we're okay."

"We're okay," Sapphire agreed. She turned to Ruby, whose eyes sprung open, moist and wild with worry. Gloved hands moved to caress her face, to pull it in, and kiss her deeply.

"I love you so much," Ruby's husky voice whispered when their lips parted just an inch.

Sapphire pecked them once more before replying, "And I love you." She cupped Ruby's cheek, searching the sadness still evident in her eyes. "We can do this. We have each other, at the very least." She tilted her head over to the army of Fusions making their slow, jabber-filled return to the group, playfully adding, "And them."

A shy smile came upon Ruby's lips. "Heh. Yeah... This could be a whole lot worse."

Steven watched the couple embrace once more, whispering sweet-nothings to one another. Warming as the sight was, he could not deny the ache howling in his chest. 'These two belong together!' cried a voice of indignation. 'They belong as Garnet!' Yet, this was the sad reality of it all - that for whatever reason, the magic of the Blue-Eye prevented Ruby and Sapphire from Fusing.

A thought struck Steven's mind, and as the others returned voicing their greetings, tapering off whatever conversations they were having, he asked aloud to any who were willing to listen, "Is it possible for you guys to un-Fuse?"

Although Steven had a depressing hunch as to what the answer might be.

Sugilite replied with a shake her head. "Nah, baby. Smoky near-pooped herself trying to split up."

"Did not."

Steven smiled, offered the best laugh he could muster, which died off quite pitifully. Several concerned eyes fell on him, and it was Garnet who spoke up as she knelt beside the boy, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other atop Ruby's head. "You've heard." It wasn't clarification, but a declaration, yet Steven nodded all the same.

"Yeah," he sighed.

For several long moments, he stared silently, deeply into the sad eyes of the little boy gazing right back in the chrome of Garnet's visor. He wondered if she would have anything to say, as it seemed she was thinking. Yet all she could offer him was a ruffle of the hair, and a subtle little smile as she told him, "You'll be fine."

Steven objected. "But, Ruby and Sapphire-"

Garnet stood abruptly, but not before lowering her visor and shooting the boy a wink with her third eye. He could only stand there, baffled as she adjusted her visor. "Alright, team. This Blue-Eye may have blessed us with something incredible, but that doesn't change what it is: a tool built by Homeworld, a tool used for nefarious purposes I don't doubt. As such, we need to handle this technology with care. How, though, is another matter entirely. For the moment, we have bigger problems on our hands."

"Yeah," Amethyst grumpily piped up, "like, how are we gonna get home? Half of them are gonna obliterate Steven's house if we try warping to the Temple."

"And Alexandrite's big honkin' feet could crush the warp pad if she tries using it," added Smoky.

The towering Fusion agreed. "That wouldn't be ideal."

Garnet put a hand to her chin, thinking. Steven mimicked her, though his thinking channeled elsewhere, his mind still heavily clouded with thoughts of the Blue-Eye and what it did to poor Ruby and Sapphire. But who could possibly dissect such a massive piece of Homeworld tech like this?

Maybe Dad, but he's more of an audio guy.

Lapis Lazuli, perhaps; she was probably around when the machine was built. And it was blue, like her. Though if Steven remembered correctly, she was a storyteller, not a tech-Gem. Plus, she had Malachite rocking around in her Gem, and no one wanted to deal with her again should the Blue-Eye decide to reactivate.

Centipeetle? She flew a ship, it's basically the same thing. Wait, no... she still hadn't regained her voice. Not much help there.

Steven sighed, defeated.

"What's wrong, little buddy?" wondered Stevonnie, getting down on one knee before him.

"I'm just trying to think of someone who could help us get to the bottom of this Blue-Eye mystery," he explained.

"Ah, I've been thinking about that too. Great minds think alike, eh?"

Steven offered a little smile. "Yeah," he giggled. "Have you thought of someone who knows about Gem technology? Someone with a lot of free time on their hands would be preferable."

"Lapis Lazuli?"

Steven shook his head. "Thought of that at first, but, nah... Lapis wouldn't know."

"You're right." Stevonnie put a hand to her lips, her counterpart doing the same. Together they hummed, like the beginnings of a song.

Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst were watching off to the side. "Should we just tell them?" asked the skinniest Gem.

Amethyst snickered. "Nah, I wanna see how long it'll take for them to figure it out."

"That could possibly take all day," said Garnet.

Or it could possibly be in that moment, for several seconds ticked by before Steven and Stevonnie snapped their fingers and said, _"I've got it!"_


	6. End of Prologue: These Fickle Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Amethyst are given a mission, which they immediately fail at.

A sound resembling a champagne cork-pop, followed by the warp stream's melodious hum heralding their arrival. The light dissipated, revealing Steven and Amethyst dusted in the soot of the Kindergarten, of which they promptly brushed off.

Immediately the sounds of life assaulted Steven's ears once more - the twittering of birds zipping by overhead, the drone of summer cicada. It was so much that Steven couldn't help but grin.

He took a deep breath as he did just that; upon the grass laid a fresh coating of rain, tainting the air with the earthy scent of damp soil, but flavored with the tang of the sea hugging the other side of Beach City, of which he saw in its humble entirety from atop the Barn Warp. It shimmered against sunbeams stabbing through the clouds like swords, breaking apart the dreary blanket, and rendering the town a golden sheen.

When Steven breathed, he gulped it in greedily, as though deprived of oxygen. Although this was how he always felt when returning from the Kindergarten - just being there took a toll on the senses.

Beside him, Amethyst blinked rapidly with her face scrunched up. "Dang," she muttered, shielding her eyes. "I almost forgot what life looked like."

"I almost forgot what life _smelled_ like," Steven replied, though he would come to regret setting himself up so perfectly in the presence of his sibling-Gem.

He barely heard Amethyst step off the warp pad and sift through the grass before she hollered, "Hey Steven, here's a healthy reminder!"

Too lost in his own world, Steven opened his eyes just a crack with a tuneless hum, which turned to a cry of dismay when his world suddenly became dark, damp, and reeking of spoiled watermelon.

He managed to shove Amethyst's arm away, and even turn the tables on her by mashing the melon shell into her face. Juicy fingers ran down her white tank top, staining it, but Amethyst did not care as she and Steven took turns jostling one another, laughing all the while. Their mirth quickly settled, though smiles still shone on both of their faces as Amethyst absentmindedly bounced the rotten fruit-halve still in hand.

"Oh man, I shoulda brought a camera, bro! You were like, ' _HmmmaaAUGH!_ ' Can't believe you walked right into that!" Amethyst erupted into a cackling fit, to which Steven could only reply with an eye-roll as he lifted the front of his shirt to wipe his face.

"Where did that even come from?" he asked.

"Dunno." Amethyst shoved the whole thing in her mouth and swallowed it at once, a sight Steven always found awesome, though he would never admit such a thing aloud if it meant Pearl potentially hearing about it. Amethyst lazily gestured to the area in front of them. "I just found it on the ground right here. Look, there's more!"

She pointed toward up the hill, leading toward the barn, where indeed hunks of fly-riddled watermelon littered the landscape.

Even Amethyst found herself wincing at the mess. "A bunch more. Dude, did your Watermelon Stevens go berserk again?"

"I haven't even eaten any watermelon yet this Summer." Though it did look like some sort of melon-battle was waged here. "Must be something Lapis and Peridot are up to," he thought aloud as him and Amethyst began walking toward the couple's abode. "I hope they're not too busy with whatever this is - everyone's waiting for us back there."

Amethyst kicked a brown-speckled shell aside, watching it burst red against her boot. "They _do_ know watermelons are supposed to be _eaten_ , right?"

Steven shrugged. "Gems don't need to _eat_ , Amethyst. You know that."

"Yeah, yeah, but I do it for _fun!_ "

Steven could see her logic - eating was quite the enjoyable pastime. Garnet seemed to agree, and so did Opal, and Centipeetle, and... Bismuth too... for as long as that lasted...

Steven shook his curly head. "Not all Gems think it's fun, though."

"Right, right. I forgot, this was Lapis we're talking about." Amethyst made little air quotes with her fingers, "She puts the 'F-U' in _'fun,'_ for sure."

"Amethyst!" Steven whined, mainly for Lapis's sake. Such vulgarity made him blush, despite finding humor in Amethyst's joke, if only because of what Pearl might say if she were around. Amethyst was always a little looser in the tongue when it was just the two of them. "I don't blame the Gems for not liking it, though. Do I need to remind you of when Peridot tried cake for the first time?"

Amethyst actually snorted, she laughed so hard. "Oh-hoh, please do bro! Remember that look on her _face?! HAA_ -HA-HA! Aha... hah... oh, _woah_." An expression of awe overcame her, where Steven quickly followed as he traced her gaze.

At the hill's peak, the barn finally came into view, and indeed Amethyst's assertions about the Watermelon Stevens would not have been too far off if that were the case: chunks of green shell scattered all around, while red goop and little black seeds painted the barn itself.

Yet, most baffling of all, Lapis Lazuli was kneeling in the car-bed Peridot had stuck hanging over the door, looking down at said Gem as she flailed her arms about, screeching indiscernible.

Steven and Amethyst merely exchanged a wary glance before making their approach.

As they got closer, Peridot's rantings became a tad more decipherable, but made the whole scenario even more nonsensical than when they first beheld the chaos, only catching a few select words such as "aquatic gourds," "Earth vocabulary" and, of course, "You CLOD!"

To which Amethyst recoiled at that last one. "Yeesh, must be somethin' serious," she muttered. "Since when did Peridot call Lapis a clod?"

Steven replied with a sad and confused, "Never." He quickly corrected, "A-At least, I don't _think_ so."

Yet as they neared, Steven was both relieved and amused to find that Lapis did not seem to take offense towards Peridot's cussing, but more annoyed than anything else. Her entire posture brightened once her roving, glazed eyes met with Steven's.

With a cry of his name, effectively cutting over and silencing Peridot, the grinning Gem fluttered to the ground with a beat of her water-wings. Beside her, Peridot glanced over her shoulder then quickly whirled around, the rage that dominated her entire being suddenly gone with a happy exclamation of, "Amethyst, Steven!"

"'Sup, guys?" greeted Amethyst, reciprocating a fist-bump from Peridot (though the green Gemling's attempt made it look as though she were trying to enthusiastically punch Amethyst in the nose, but the Quartz took it in stride).

Lapis was on her knees sharing a hug with Steven. "It's good to see you again."

"You too!" Steven pulled away, hands still gripping Lazuli's wrists, albeit with caution wrought across his features. "Um, did we come at a bad time?" he asked, glancing uneasily at the barn mates.

Peridot simply snickered, waving him off. "Oh, not at all!"

Neither of them said anything else; Steven and Amethyst, once more, exchanged a look.

"Then..." Amethyst ventured, "what was with all the yelling?"

Peridot swept her hand. "Don't worry about that."

Again, neither said more - they continued gazing at the Quartz pair with smiles plastered to their faces.

Steven addressed Lapis, "Why is there watermelon all over the place?"

"Don't worry about that," she assured him.

Steven furrowed his brows - clearly, these two were hiding something. Were they having an argument, and trying to cover up for his benefit? The idea warmed him, it was so thoughtful! But also unhealthy, and Steven had the sudden urge to pry into their business, feeling like he was on a roll with that pep-talk he gave Sapphire.

Steven froze - _Sapphire! The others! I almost forgot!_ He was prepared to speak as he opened his mouth, when his sibling-Gem erupted with quite the obnoxiously loud yawn.

"Well, alright!" Amethyst clapped her hands together, bringing attention to the impish smile curling her lips. "You dorks are _clearly_ in the middle of something ya don't wanna share with us. That's fine! We won't hold ya up. Come on, Steven! Let's head back to the Temple."

Steven reached a hand out, ready to object, but Amethyst was already strolling back to the warp pad, hands tucked behind her hair. "Amethyst, wait! What about our mission? They're still at the Kindergarten!" He jogged after her. "Amethyst!"

By doing so, Steven missed the hurt that suddenly crossed Lapis and Peridot's features. "Now wait, hold on a second!" cried the shorter of the two. Peridot pumped her little legs until she suddenly appeared in front of Amethyst, hands pushing against her chest.

The Quartz was forced to a halt, yet she did not appear fazed as her expression still bore a knowing smirk, and it was then that Steven caught on.

Peridot however took no notice, or if she did, her mind was already set on a track of thought and the little details of the world around her vanished, as was typical. "Pause your departure," she demanded. "Just because you made an unscheduled intrusion on our work, doesn't mean you and Steven have to leave us. I-In fact, you came just in time for a sneak preview of our newest and truest morp!" Her smile was nothing short of forced - truly, Peridot didn't want her closest friends to depart so soon.

Pitying her, Steven was about to explain that Amethyst was teasing when she suddenly spoke over him.

"Is that all, Peri?" she mocked. "Or you just wanna cop the goods a little longer?"

Peridot blinked. "Cops?"

Steven looked at his fellow Quartz, unsure of what she was getting at until he noticed her cradling the back of her head, making no effort to remove the tiny green hands still groping her chest.

Peridot seemed to be figuring this out just as he did, and the two of them blushed furiously as she jumped back with a most undignified yelp.

Amethyst started howling - truly, she did not care, and neither should Peridot, yet it seemed that every day the green Gem was adapting more and more to humanity's cultural norms, for better or worse. "Relax, Peri! I'm just teasin'," she said, calming down in tandem with her friend's embarrassment.

"I knew that! I, I was just being ' _cool_.'" Peridot made little air quotes to emphasize her point.

Evidently not, as indicated by the prominent cyan glow of her cheeks. Amethyst shook her head. "Oh, _totally._ " With a yelp, Steven was suddenly pulled into a one-armed embrace by Amethyst, other hand settled on her hip. "So tell us what you've been up to, home-girl! Looks like you two were having one _heck_ of a food fight. Sad you didn't invite me."

"We were not fighting!" Peridot snapped. Instantaneously her face was ravaged by a soft cyan glow. "I mean, who would fight with something as primitive as Earth-produce?"

"Jokes, P-Dot. Take it down a notch." Amethyst gestured with her lowering her hand.

"Yes." Peridot cleared her throat, "Of course." Taking a deep breath, her hands went to her hips, and a grin spread across her face. In her best entertainer voice, "Steven, Amethyst, TODAY! You have the distinct honor of... actually, Lapis, are you okay with a preliminary showing?"

Lapis had dropped from the sky beside her barn mate several moments ago. To her question, she answered with an ever-enthusiastic:

"Sure."

Yet she simpered subtly watching her friend's eyes light up. As always, Peridot's optimism more than made up for the two of them. "Most agreeable! Steven, Amethyst, you two have the distinct honor of beholding a preliminary showing of Lapis and I's latest morp! A collaborative piece we like to call: 'Crystal Gems Victorious.'"

With her announcement, Peridot held both hands out at her sides, Lapis Lazuli monotonously mimicking her motions, together presenting the watermelon-splattered landscape like it were the piece itself. The barn stood vigil behind the Crystal Gems, still sticky and confounding in its current state.

Amethyst's head roved all around, unseeing, before regarding the two of them with a confused stare. Though Steven did not understand either, he couldn't care less - Lapis Lazuli and Peridot were producing art, art supposedly about him and his family at that; this alone was worth appraisal.

"Wow! This is so cool, you guys! Great work!" He applauded. The two Gems exchanged blushing looks, even Lapis - this piece was clearly more personal than he initially thought. While they weren't looking, Steven took the opportunity to quickly elbow Amethyst in the arm.

"O-Oh! Uh, yeah!" Amethyst followed his lead - the tips of her fingers each morphed into a little hand, creating a miniature ovation. "Bravo! Marvelous! Ex-ceptional!"

Genuinely curious, Steven asked, "What's the inspiration behind this piece?"

Before answering his question, the two artists looked to one another, and with a silent tilt of the head in his direction, Lapis turned back and said, "You guys."

Amethyst became as deadpan as the Gem who answered. "Wow, never woulda guessed." By her boot, a whole half of a watermelon lay shattered and splattered in the grass. She dully batted it and watched it roll down the hill with her uncovered eye. "No, really," she suddenly and casually proceeded, "I never would've figured it out for myself. What's with the mess?"

Peridot explained, "It's part of our morp. Recent events have..." her hands danced around as she thought of a word, " _inspired_ us, so to speak. I wanted to pay tribute to the Crystal Gems' repeated victories against the wrath of Homeworld - facing immeasurable odds, coming out on top through the power of Earth! And making a big fat mess of things on top of all that. So, I devised a piece to encompass all of these traits simultaneously!"

"And..." Amethyst's arms stuck out, gesturing all around, "the watermelons?"

"Represents the fallen Crystal Gems during the rebellion," Lapis answered. "The barn symbolizes planet Earth."

"Soaked in the metaphorical blood of the fallen!" Peridot explained a little too enthusiastically.

Steven couldn't help but now feel a little uncomfortable about the meep-morp, remembering the barn was practically drenched with melon-guts, and there were a _lot_ of watermelons he passed on the way up.

He didn't know how else to respond, except to quietly reply, "That's pretty powerful, you guys."

Lapis gave a single nod, yet her blank disposition finally bore emotion, that of sympathy, once she noticed Steven's mood significantly drop.

Peridot took note as well, and said to him, "It is a very controversial piece, yes. Even moreso than the season four finale of _Camp Pining Hearts,_ I'd say."

The heaviness of the mood may have been perpetual, had Amethyst not announced, "So you got all of that just from smashing watermelons?" She let out a laugh of disbelief. "H'oh, now this is the kind of art that _speaks_ to me!"

"They're called morps, and actually, it was Lapis who did the quote-unquote 'smashing,'" she gestured to her friend, who bore a fairly determined expression as she beat her fist into an open palm. Reminded of Onion, Steven smiled, content that Lapis at the very least was enjoying expressing herself in her new home.

Yet Peridot smiled all the same, looking quite pleased with her friend's reaction. "Although it has yet to achieve completion, Lapis and I are glad that this meep-morp has invoked satisfactory responses from the two of you." She smirked smugly. "I knew _you_ would like it, Amethyst. Although you've yet to witness the best part, it will be soon!"

Amethyst laughed softly. "Well, you gotta at least tell me what it is now. Can't leave a girl in suspense like that."

"It isn't up to just me," Peridot sounded quite regrettable as she turned her gaze upward. "Lapis? Would you object?"

"I don't care."

"Excellent! Lapis," the green Gem pointed outwards, "fly us to the barn!"

Lapis Lazuli regarded her friend with a flat stare. "Do I even need to say it?" She turned and started a casual stroll to the barn.

"You can't say no forever!" Peridot chased after her.

Lapis replied, "Yes, I can."

Now alone, Amethyst and Steven shrugged before jogging to catch up.

And boy was Peridot grilling Lapis about this. "Statistics show that you're more likely to fly me to the barn at some point in the future than you'll ever get hit with an asteroid, or 'win the lotteries.' Lapis, did you know that? Lapis, Nye the Science Guy said so! He's a human named after the objective pursuit of knowledge, so you know he's right!"

Lapis gave a soft chuckle. "Really, now?"

Behind them, Amethyst was smothering a laugh into her hand. "Dude," she whispered to her fellow sibling-Gem, "how do you think someone like Lapis endures 'The Peridot Show' twenty-four, seven?"

"She goes out and explores a lot," Steven replied, honestly. Yet that, for some reason, made Amethyst laugh even harder.

He could understand - while the two of them adored Peridot's presence, Lapis Lazuli was a whole other Gem. She was once so adamant on having her own space that she couldn't even stand the thought of looking at Peridot.

Before him, Lapis regarded the rambling Gem walking quick little footsteps to keep in pace with her larger strides, all while wearing the face of one who was so content; on her lips remained a smile, faint and subdued, with her entire posture held in a way Steven still felt immense joy upon seeing: relaxed. A sort of sleepiness weighed her form, her arms swinging lazily at her sides, as one who was no longer on high alert, nonstop.

A stark contrast from the moment Steven first met her, fatigued and frightened; and a total opposite with how she was almost a year ago, scarred in the mind, bitter over her lot in life, and forced to share space with the Gem who, not too long ago, rendered her a prisoner once more.

And now, on a beautiful June afternoon one year later, Lapis Lazuli bore a humored smirk while Peridot prattled on about Bill Nye. Amethyst was still giggling, and Steven had half a mind to join her; these two had come so far.

Inside, the barn was still the same, looking more like an art museum than someone's living space. Peridot dashed further into the din upon entering. She ran for a blue cooler propped on the middle toilet of "Occupied." She made little noises while rummaging around until, with a definitive "Aha!", she withdrew something small enough to hide inside her cupped hands. A big, goofy grin adorned her face as she returned to the Gems waiting by the entrance.

"What is it?" Steven asked.

"Behold, one of the centerpieces to 'Crystal Gems Victorious!'" And Peridot opened her hands, her excited, twinkling gaze scanning the Crystal Gems' reactions to a misshapen green lump no bigger than Steven's thumb.

Even Lapis appeared quite proud of the strange item Peridot was holding, yet both Steven and Amethyst could only offer their confusion and silence. "It's cute!" Steven offered, grasping.

Peridot scoffed, "It's not 'cute;' I call it: _Amelonthyst!_ "

The fruit's inspiration chuckled. "H'what?"

"Don't get her started," Lapis warned, though her smile told it was in good humor. "Just accept that it's you."

Of course, this being Amethyst, that wasn't going to happen. She frowned upon giving the melon extended scrutiny. "But why am I so puny?"

Peridot happily explained, undeterred by the hostile tone sent her way. "Since our pumpkin patch worked out _so well_ last Fall," she paused to visibly cringe, "Lapis Lazuli figured we'd have better luck with watermelons."

"The name is very misleading by the way," said Lapis.

Peridot grimaced. "Just like everything else on this planet." Steven could only offer a sympathetic chuckle. "But anyway! While sifting through the fruits of our labor, looking for suitable gourds to gore, I came across _this_ beautiful little Gem right here! It reminded me so much of Amethyst, I just couldn't resist implementing it into our morp."

It took every effort on Steven's part not to cringe at Peridot's implications, despite her meaning well. He was almost too afraid to look at Amethyst - when he shot her a glance, he could see her single uncovered eye narrowing almost to a slit.

"So," she challenged icily, "how is this little, misshapen watermelon like me exactly?"

Without missing a beat, Peridot explained, "Because there's simply nothing like it, nor will there ever be again!"

The response left Amethyst reeling, her hair moved to reveal a stupefied glare. Yet even so, she stuttered a hesitant, "I... don't really get it."

Peridot stepped forward, and Steven could tell from Amethyst's posture that her legs wanted to move as well. Their faces were almost touching.

"Just look." She held the melon up between Amethyst's stricken face and her beaming one. "It's so unlike any of the other watermelons in the whole patch - a total unforeseen event that had a one in one-hundred chance of occurring." She stepped back, eyes alight. "Does that not sound like a parallel to your origins, Amethyst?"

Usually supplied with a quip at the ready, the Quartz seemed to have all sense stolen from her as she could only utter a single sound: "Uh..."

"And look at how small it is, so tiny and compact with greatness! And you know, I believe this size is indicative of it's rarity, just like you! Sure, there are many big, stupid Amethysts running around, but there's only one _you_ , and you're totally not like the others!" Peridot thrust a finger towards the deformed fruit sitting in her palm. "You're practically kin!"

"Awe, Peridot!" gushed Steven. "You really put a lot of thought into this! And that's so nice, isn't it Amethyst? ...Amethyst?"

He was set to urge some kind of a reaction from her, yet when Steven turned he found Amethyst with her arms folded, but not crossed, almost like she were hugging herself; hair concealed half her face once more, but most importantly, she was smiling, a shy little thing no less loving and genuine than what Steven had come to expect from Amethyst these days.

" _Peri_..." Her voice croaked; ignoring her own flustered expression, Amethyst cleared her throat. "I really like it," she said in a low, raspy voice. Her face flushed as she said, "So, uh, thanks and junk."

Steven couldn't help himself from grinning at her reaction, and he blushed doubly hard to make up for her.

"Oh, don't thank me, Amethyst. This was completely unintentional!" said Peridot, oblivious. "In human terms, I believe this is what you would call a quote-unquote 'miracle.'" Peridot lost herself lovingly rubbing the tiny melon against her cheek, that she missed the deep purple now ravaging Amethyst's face. "I made my own Amethyst! And what's even better, I made an 'error,'" she snarled with air quotes, but switched right back to joyous, "and yet I'm over the metaphorical moon about it! How could Earth possibly get any better?!"

"I have a few ideas," said Lapis.

Peridot quirked a brow. "And what would that be?"

"Maybe finishing this meep-morp before the sun explodes?"

"Don't be silly, Lapis," Peridot snickered. "We'd be off-planet if this solar system's sun were to ever erupt. Er... Steven? How long until that happens?"

Steven promptly replied, "About four-billion years."

"See? Plenty of time to finish our morp!"

Lapis gazed off to the side, crossing her arms. "I want it done _today._ But..."

"But we have guests, I understand," Peridot relented.

"We can help!" offered Steven, his arms stretched out.

The barn mates looked doubtfully to one another. "You, want to?" asked Peridot, brow cocked.

"Yeah, man!" said Amethyst, looking equally enthusiastic. "Never mashed food for a _reason_ before."

Peridot put a hand to her mouth, humming. This went on for several moments, until she turned her attention from the floor to her friend. "Lapis? Do you object?"

Her face was blank as ever as she took a look at Steven, taking in his cheerful disposition, but lingered ever so awkwardly on Amethyst, so earnest, and wholly unfamiliar. But she soon answered, "Okay." Lapis Lazuli smiled, ever so slightly. "Let's mash it up."

"Now we're talkin'!" cackled Amethyst.

Peridot rose Amelonthyst in front of her, a sinister sneer on her face. "Right, let us morp."

* * *

A sound resembling a champagne cork-pop, followed by the warp stream's melodious hum heralding...

_Oh jeez, I completely forgot!_

The sun was peeking out from the ocean's limitless horizon, rendering the sky a burnt pink, and a deep, deep blue directly above. Appropriately, it was Lapis Lazuli and Steven Universe who were outside the barn, spectating the end to another day on planet Earth in comfortable silence.

It's been too long since they had some alone time.

That isn't to say their time with the others was poor, quite the contrary in fact. Steven couldn't remember the last time he had so much fun with Lapis and Peridot, Amethyst joining only enhanced the experience. The better part of the day Steven spent with Peridot, picking through her watermelon fields behind the barn. This meant leaving Amethyst alone with Lapis to "mash it up."

Steven couldn't deny that he was slightly worried - it's no secret, Lapis despised the Crystal Gems for using her like an item. Though it seemed there were no hostilities to be had for Amethyst, on account that she was "quite naive," as Lapis explained it. Whatever that meant, it sounded like an insult to Steven, yet when Lapis spoke she almost sounded envious.

"Amethyst doesn't know about Homeworld, the war... how Gems treat each other," she had explained. "She's very, very lucky. To be raised on Earth, and not know anything else. We can only hope to try and mimic her outlook on things, despite what the Rebellion has taught us, don't you think?"

"I guess," Steven replied, though in truth he didn't fully understand. Lapis and Peridot were adapting so well to their new home, and the Rebellion was thousands of years ago, so it shouldn't matter anymore, right?

Regardless, Lapis got along with Amethyst, the two bonding over their mutual love for destruction through melon-smashing. She even snorted at some of the Quartz's uproarious antics.

After harvesting, Peridot retreated inside to work on their centerpiece while Steven joined the others. He enjoyed breaking melons against a big rock, albeit at a noticeably slower smashing-rate than Lapis or Amethyst, who were taking turns leaping into the air and pitching watermelons into the Earth like softballs. They got into a big food fight when the splatter of one pelted by Amethyst got Steven, and with a handful of gunk he retaliated, or tried to, which resulted in her rolling out of the way and the attack nailing Lapis instead, who was directly behind Amethyst in the unfortunate position of bending over to pick up another watermelon.

The war was on.

Though, having air superiority meant Lapis never got hit, even with Amethyst whip-flinging entire melons in her direction.

She called down to the Quartzes, "Keep trying, I can do this all-!" A satisfying crack snapped as a watermelon exploded against Lapis's face. She fell from the sky akin to a plane with a broken wing, landing and cleaving through the fruit-soaked earth. Gasping and spitting out grassy melon, she pushed herself to her knees, covered head to toe.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Peridot sneering down at her, leaning with her arms folded against a catapult constructed out of a shovel, a rope, and a bathtub. "A simple foot soldier may find themselves at a loss against you," she pointed a finger to the other two Gems, then herself, "but a Peridot can hit such a large, lumbering target with her eyes closed. Am I great, or am I the greatest?"

Red goop splattered against her visor.

"Try and hit me again," Lapis challenged, before ripping into the air once more.

The four Gems had their garden warfare for several hours, laughing, hollering; even Lapis Lazuli was enjoying herself, snorting and chortling with a grin that still hadn't left her face. Eventually Steven found himself exhausted, sore, and completely sticky. They all took a dip in the smaller-than-average-lake to clean themselves, then Amethyst retreated into the barn to watch _Camp Pining Hearts_ with Peridot ("You have to see this travesty of a season finale!" she had said, and Amethyst followed with a hapless shrug, uncaring but enjoying the prospect of hanging out with Peridot regardless). That left Steven to spend time with Lapis outside, where the grass wasn't an ocean of mud and melon that is.

And now the warp pad shot a column of light into the summer sky, signaling a Gem coming in, and a reminder of the whole reason why Steven and Amethyst were here in the first place.

Lapis was on her back, hands behind her head, when she noticed Steven freeze up upon hearing that distinctive ping. "You okay?" she asked.

" _Amethyst!_ " Steven got up and ran for the barn, but not before calling back, "I'm fine Lapis, but _AMETHYST!_ "

 _Shlick-shlick,_ his sandals slopped against the goopy Earth leading toward the barn. But Steven did not care, gave no mind to the cloying stickiness seeping neath his feet.

He gave a whoop of surprise when two hands went under his arms, and he was lifted from the ground. Wordlessly, Lapis flew them both to the tarp-covered entrance, where Amethyst met him halfway.

Her eyes were wide with concern. "Dude, what? Where's the fire?"

Peridot came up beside her. "Impossible. Lapis would have extinguished it, meaning there is another reason why Steven is reiterating your name."

"Amethyst, we forgot!" Steven cried, not missing a beat. "The Kindergarten, Amethyst! Everybody's been waiting on us, and now-!"

"Oh... _oh."_ Amethyst buried her face in her hands. "We're so screwed."

"Why? What's wrong?" Lapis asked.

"If anyone wants to hurt you guys, they'll have to answer to us!" Peridot clenched her little fists, though she looked quite un-intimidating in her oversized _Team Pierrecy_ tee.

Amethyst lifted her head, though kept one hand trying to bury its palm into her eye. "No, nah it's not that, you guys. It's-"

 _"Amethyst!"_ The tarp was roughly shoved aside, where a tall, bronze-skinned women with voluminous platinum-blonde hair ducked in through the entrance.

"H'OH MY STARS!" Peridot shrieked, followed by Lapis, a mildly surprised, "Holy smokes."

Her four eyes were alight with aggression, though they quickly flooded with relief upon seeing the Gem in question. "Oh thank the stars! For a minute there I thought something terrible happened here. Outside is a mess!"

Amethyst coolly replied, hands behind her head, "Guilty as charged on five-hundred accounts of melon-murder."

A roll of the eyes. "Of course you are."

"Hi, Rainbow!" Steven waved, though instantly his hand was in a firm, fought-not-to-be-trembling grip from Peridot.

"Steven," she began, and Lapis was behind her, hands on her shoulders, "allow me to be frank." Peridot put her free hand to her lips, cleared her throat, and asked as politely as she could possibly muster, "Who's the giant clod barging into our home?"

"Oh, that's just Rainbow Quartz! She's a Fusion of Pearl and my mom."

Silent, Peridot and Lapis looked over at Rainbow Quartz.

She gave a tiny wave. "Hello, you two. Sorry for intruding on your little, ah," she moved to gaze over their shoulders, taking in the vast array of meep-morps, "garbage museum? We've been waiting in the Kindergarten for stars know how long, waiting on this little troublemaker right here." She tilted her head towards Amethyst, who only shrugged.

Silent, Peridot and Lapis looked over at Steven Quartz.

"That doesn't make any sense," noted Peridot, ignoring everything Rainbow had just said. She spoke as if clarifying it for herself, "You're here, and Rose Quartz isn't. _She_ makes zero logical sense! There is no way she should exist right now."

Unbeknownst to her, for the slightest moment a flash of hurt crossed Rainbow's face.

Steven sighed - there was no point in making excuses, it was best to get to the point now. "You're right, this is all really confusing. And that's... kinda the reason why Amethyst and I came here in the first place." To that, both Peridot and Lapis Lazuli regarded him with surprised looks. Steven couldn't help but feel his guts squirm, uncertain if they were upset with this revelation or not.

"It's a long story, but I can explain," he said, trying to muster a positive mood to alleviate the Gems' initial shock.

It didn't help when Stevonnie barged in through what little space Rainbow left in the doorway. "Yo, Rainbow, ya find 'em?" She was given a small start being met with two Gems just staring at her. She eased up quickly though, and even gave a friendly wave. "Hey you guys!"

"Who the heck is this?!" Peridot cried.

"That's Stevonnie!" said Amethyst, eager and mischievous as she explained, "She's a Fusion of Steven and his little girlfriend!"

"Amethyst!" the boy whined.

Peridot looked ready to explode. "What?! What, what?! There's so many things about this that don't make a modicum of sense!"

"I know, aren't I great?" Stevonnie grinned.

"I need some air." Rubbing her temples, Peridot sprinted for the door, taking care not to touch either Fusion through the doorway.

"Peridot, wait." Stevonnie moved to grab her by the shoulder, but was immediately lashed at with quite the vicious hiss.

"Don't touch me, you illogical clod!"

The Fusion, who had swerved back with both hands out beside her head, slowly lowered them, and her brow, and her mood as well. Seconds later, after Peridot left the scene, a familiar shriek echoed into the night.

"She met the others," Stevonnie joked.

* * *

"You're joking me."

"We're not," said Steven, on her right. To his right was Lapis, gripping his hand as she gazed down the hill, deep in thought. To Peridot's left was Pearl, alongside Amethyst. She herself sat in Garnet's lap.

"So... you fiddled with Homeworld tech you didn't understand, in a place you didn't even know existed until I came along, and through unexplained means you now have..." Peridot vaguely gestured to the conversing Fusions strewn about down the hill, "... _them_. I'm starting to think your victory against Homeworld was one big accident." She meant it as a joke, but the look Pearl shot Garnet's way told her that she wasn't too far off.

"I see..." Humming, Peridot removed her visor, though immediately moved two fingers to massage her eyes before replacing it on her face. She seemed wholly hesitant and not at all eager to ask what she was about to: "And how do Lapis and I fit into this equation, precisely?"

Ultimately, Garnet and Smoky Quartz had been the ones to calm Peridot down.

Everywhere she turned, there was another monstrously huge Fusion waiting to greet her. It wasn't until she ran blindly into Garnet's waiting arms, her familiar arms, that she at least stopped hyperventilating. "Garnet, you gotta help me!" she cried. "Clods, giant clods everywhere! Trampling my meep-morp with their big, lumbering feet!"

"Easy, Peridot, it's alright," Garnet cooed, uncaring that she was nearly ankle-deep in watermelon sludge.

Steadying herself, Peridot gave her friend a dubious look. "I fail to see how this is 'alright,'" she muttered shakily. "Unless Steven's healing powers now exhibit necromantic qualities."

Suddenly a voice, loud and bouncy, came up behind her. "Hey now, look who it is!"

Peridot whipped her head around, and her expression brightened somewhat upon seeing Smoky Quartz's freckled face leap into view. "It's you," she said, as Garnet put her down.

"It's me!" Smoky playfully shot back. She looked around, where the other Fusions now noticeably kept their distance. "Heh, man, when you started screamin' bloody-murder, I could've sworn you saw Sugilite's mug. Or mine! Heh..."

Confusion misted Peridot's expression. "Su-Sugilite?" She enunciated each syllable of the name. "Is that some kind of Gem?"

Smoky's third arm jutted a thumb to the group behind them. "Giga-thyst over yonder."

"That thing's a Fusion with Amethyst?!" she shrieked. Gripping and twisting the hem of her shirt, Peridot tilted over on one foot to glance around Smoky's broad figure, where Sugilite had squatted down on the other side of the property, thoughtfully running a giant finger through their morp-goop. When her fifth eye caught Peridot's stare however, she flashed her a toothy smile, and rose one fist in a thumbs-up.

Peridot yipped and very nearly lost balance before going back to hiding behind Garnet's legs, albeit with a face flushed cyan. "Holy smokes," she breathed.

"You rang?" Smoky teased, chuckling at her own joke. "Man, this is crazy, right Peri?"

Peridot securely hugged her t-shirt clad torso. "You could say that again. And again, just to be sure."

Smoky gave a loud snort, like a massive bull to Peridot's ears. "Heh, yeah. But hey!" She bent over to lightly tap the smaller Gem on the shoulder, though she almost ended up knocking her over. "Real good to see you again!"

"Um, yes. We... never really got the chance to interact. Before Jasper went and corrupted herself."

"Yeah, what a clod, am I right?" Smoky cracked a friendly grin, yet Peridot could only offer a weary one in return - her wide eyes were still blinking, trying to comprehend it all. Noticing her discomfort, Smoky's grin subsided into a plump, little smile, where she then clapped her hands together and awkwardly announced that she was to join the others.

When it was just the two of them, Garnet said to Peridot in a low voice, "I'm sorry you were overwhelmed. Steven and Amethyst should have explained as soon as they arrived, to prevent that from happening. 'm sure Pearl's giving them quite the earful now." Peridot's silent gaze cast back to the barn, its windows aglow with soft orange light. "I trust that you enjoyed yourselves," she eventually said, smiling subtly.

"Um, yes."

The silence between them was short-lived however, when Pearl's nagging voice slowly came within hearing range. "I cannot believe you two! I knew I should have come along."

"In our defense, Peridot and Lapis are really good at distracting us."

"Oh, _please_."

Peridot and Garnet turned, watching Pearl aggressively stride towards them with Amethyst's and Steven's hand entwined in either of hers. In the distance, Rainbow Quartz and Stevonnie emerged from the barn to join the rest of their team, followed by Lapis flying out and landing beside Peridot, just as they were met with the others.

Their gazes met, both wide, both flustered, but just a tiny bit warm seeing one another again. "You okay?" asked Lapis, flattening the tip of Peridot's hair against her hand.

The green Gem nodded rapidly. "I-I'm fine!" she assured her. "I was just... not expecting this, is all. What about you? Are you feeling adequate?"

Lapis shrugged. "I'll live."

Pearl stomped to a stop before them, her hands roughly flinging down Amethyst's and gently setting down Steven's, though she was no less disappointed with him as she did so. Arms crossed, she ordered her shorter companions to "Go on."

Amethyst stepped forward, head bent forward. "Sorry, Mom," she droned.

"Sorry, Garnet." Steven's apology sounded genuine, and his fingers twiddled together, nervously.

The Fusion held up one hand, an easy smile on her lips. "It's alright, you two. In truth, we didn't notice how much time passed until the sun started going down."

Warily, a smile of his own grew on Steven's face. "You guys had fun?" He giggled at a hand roughing up his curls.

"All kinds," Garnet teased. "We can lose track of time in our enjoyment, too."

"Garnet!" Amethyst cried, pretend-shocked. "I had no idea you could be so irresponsible!" Behind her, Pearl looked ready to unleash another torrent of nagging until her superior quickly changed the subject.

"I believe we have some explaining to do to our friends here." Garnet turned to Lapis and Peridot, both of whom regarded the scene with their own brands of unease (that being Peridot's nervous demeanor, and Lapis's slightly widened eyes respectively). Garnet got down on one knee before them, and explained.

One lengthy recounting of events later, interspersed with comments by Amethyst and Steven, and now the Gems found themselves at the edge of the property, away from the mess, away from the Fusions. They moved location when Pearl noticed her feet seeping into the Earth.

"It's the meep-morp we've been working on!" Steven had exclaimed.

Pearl gingerly lifted her foot, cringing at the red stickiness gripping the sole. "Is that what this is?" she wondered, doubtful.

After hearing the whole story, and Peridot pieced together the important bits, those that interested her, she had asked how she and Lapis fit into all this. To her wary tone, Steven sidled closer and put a hand against her arm.

"I'm really sorry I forgot to tell you," he said, glassy-eyed. "I felt awful when I heard you screaming out here."

Peridot's face was stricken, caught off guard by Steven's apology - she hadn't even considered he was at fault about all this, her head was still spinning. Soaking in his words, a grin full of confidence surfaced. "That was just my warcry," she assured him.

Amethyst snorted, sitting down crisscross before her and Garnet. "Epic warcry, girl. It'll make Yellow Diamond pee her pants." Peridot snickered, finding the image amusing. Though her companion settled, and followed suit just as heartfelt as Steven, "But I'm sorry too, Peri."

"It's fine," Peridot said sharply, but the honest intensity of her gaze told them it was true. "It's in the past."

"Is Alexandrite around?" Lapis suddenly asked. All eyes turned to her, where she just shrugged. "I was looking down there, and when Steven said 'every Fusion' I thought I'd see her."

"For what reason?" Peridot wondered, brow raised.

Lapis looked away, hugging her knees to her chest only to say, "I wanted to thank her." Whatever that meant, Peridot was clearly uncertain.

Before she cold pry, Steven piped up and asked Garnet, "Yeah, where is she?"

"Alexandrite's too big for the warp pad," she explained. "So she said she'll walk home. Be a while 'fore we see her again."

"Aw, man!" Steven whined, genuinely disappointed.

Garnet hummed, possibly in agreement, though it was hard to tell with her. After a moment's thought, she picked up Peridot and dropped her with Steven and Lapis Lazuli. The three of them gazed upon her in curiosity, except the chrome of her visor was directed solely at Peridot.

She began with her name, "it's unfair to all of a sudden drop this on you, especially when you two just want to be left to your own devices. But if you can help us with this, we would be most grateful."

Peridot was silent, already prepared to assure Garnet that it was okay, until that last part caught her off guard. "Help you? What can I possibly know about Fusion that you don't already?"

"It's not the Fusions you have to worry about," Pearl explained, speaking in that matter-of-fact tone of voice. "It's the Blue-Eye, the source of all this. I trust that you've never Fused before, correct?"

Peridot could not resist flushing from being asked such a personal question so forwardly. "Er, no," she admitted shyly. "Peridots have never had a reason to Fuse. Th-That's more reserved for combat Gems, tactical advantage and all that."

"None of that matters here, Peri!" said Amethyst.

Pearl sharply spoke over her, " _Regardless_ , this is perfect. Now you won't have to worry about sprouting another Fusion should the Blue-Eye activate again."

"Er, what? I am confused, this 'Blue-Eye' anomaly..."

"It's as we said, we don't even know what it's called, or how it works," Garnet explained. She lightly clapped Peridot on the shoulder. "That's what we want you to find out." Peridot did not reply immediately, her face screwed up with concentration. To this, Garnet offered, "You don't have to agree."

"I never said I wouldn't!" she insisted. Blushing, Peridot explained, "It's just, you're asking for my help? The great Crystal Gems need the help of l, Peridot?" She put a hand to her chest, gazing at Garnet's neutral expression expectantly.

"We are."

A short, sharp laugh. "I knew you'd see my greatness, one of these days! _Nyeh-heh-heh_ , my first mission!" She whispered excitedly to herself, beginning to pace to and fro. "Very well!" She pointed a finger to the heavens. "I shall dissect this piece of Gem-tech with the utmost efficiency of a Peridot. You will not be disappointed!" Behind her, Lapis gave her little friend a long, steady look; if she had something on her mind, she wasn't going to say it.

This, however, did not go unnoticed by Garnet. "There's no rush," she said, as Peridot walked by her.

"Oh, but there is!" The Gem snickered to herself. "My first mission with the Crystal Gems? What a wonderful time to be a traitor! Hold on, I must gather my tools." Without another word, Peridot skipped off toward the barn, trampling over the goopy meep-morp without care, even when she fervently removed her shirt and flung it into the mess haphazardly.

" _She's_ excited," Amethyst noted, amused.

"Yeah," Lapis Lazuli quietly agreed, "she is." She sounded oddly taken aback with Peridot's unsurprising behavior.

To this, Steven gently gripped his friend's wrist. "Is something wrong, Lapis?"

The water Gem looked down at him, startled, but quickly her features smoothed out into their typical relaxed disposition. "No, nothing's wrong. I was just... _surprised_ with how quickly she took off."

Steven smiled, seemingly expecting her response. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something... something...

A yawn from deep within intruded on Steven's thoughts. Even Amethyst was left reeling at the intensity of it. "Woah! Looks like it's bedtime for this little guy." She chuckled, watching Garnet scoop Steven into her arms, who greedily snuggled into her bosom.

"See ya, Lapis," Amethyst said, taking in her quiet nod in reply while Garnet bellowed to the Gems down the hill, "Alright gang, we're headin' home!"

And in no time, Lapis Lazuli found herself alone. In the quiet of the night, amidst the noxious fumes of crushed melon watering the soil, she heard the end credit-jingle of _Camp Pining Hearts_ echoing from the loft, into the hollow emptiness of the barn.

Summoning her water-wings, Lapis took off, headed for the ocean.

_**End of Prologue** _

* * *

**On the timeline: Peridot talked about their pumpkin patch "last fall" in reference to the events of 'Gem Harvest.' This is taking place the following summer, with the assumption that things do not work out, or at the very least _something_ goes awry. If any substantial changes do occur in this episode, I will be subtle in implementing them into this story so that it remains to be canon compliant.**

**We are done with the prologue. Yes, everything you've been reading was just the story's introduction. _Act I_ will follow.**


	7. Act I: Old Friends, New Problems (Introduction)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven begins the first day of the rest of his life.

Upon a finger of land, where a smattering of human beings called home, the salty tang of the ocean, cool and damp, enveloped the quiet little city. The sun was just starting to peek up from beyond its watery horizon, rendering it a sheet of beaten copper, ever-writhing gently.

Steven rolled in bed, blanket squeezing around himself - a few more minutes in Sleepy Town was warranted, especially after all the excitement from yesterday.

 _Yesterday..._ Even now, Steven's sleepy mind was an unending hurricane of feelings and images - difficulty was found thinking of anything else (not that he even tried): excitement for the new additions to his family; happy for Fusions being able to exist again like Rainbow, Sugilite, and Alexandrite, but at the same time sad, too, for Ruby and Sapphire.

Steven barely had time to muse about what tomorrow would bring before passing out in Garnet's lap at Lapis and Peridot's. Awakening to find himself in bed, Steven feared it all to be a cruel dream before Opal's head popped up from beneath his loft, meeting his eyes suddenly. Steven winced in surprise.

Opal smiled apologetically, as if she genuintely scared him. Her voice was soft and lovely and it stirred the air hugging Steven gently: "Sorry, I heard your breathing change, and wanted to see if you were okay."

Steven's face was half-buried in his pillow when he nodded - too tired and overwhelmed with relief, and his mind went blank inhaling the air, tinted with the smell of...

"Is Pearl making us pancakes?" he wondered sleepily.

Opal's eyes shut, shoulders bobbing a little - a titter thumped soft in her breast. "No, no, I'm making  _us_  pancakes. With cumin and saffron." She winked knowingly.

But before Steven could object to how gross that is, she turned and strode back into the kitchen in just three tiptoes - his eyes followed her, to where four bowls of pancake mix were spread across the counter, accompanied by four stacks of breakfast and three pans cooking more on the stove, each occupying a hand. Her fourth picked up a container and dashed its contents upon each battery disk - not the bright red of saffron, but a familiar golden brown -  _Cinnamon_ , Steven realized.

The cool early morning air trailed its fingers upon Steven's form, from the window cracked open beside him. The tang of the ocean was upon it; Steven smiled into his pillow before succumbing to his contented drowsiness once more.

Just five more minutes to enjoy  _this_  - Opal the Giant Woman, making pancakes for herself, himself, Amethyst, and Stevonnie, too.

 _Life is good,_ Steven thought, before shutting his eyes.

.

.

.

.

.

_"Hey, SCRAM DOLL-FACE! This is MY half of the beach!"_

**_KER-SMASH!_** boomed Earth itself, and Steven's eyes sprung open.

 _"Ooh, SO threatening, dear Sugilite - baring your_ teeth  _like a rabid guard-dog, claiming ownership over that which is the humans'. A true defender of the planet!"_

_"You know what I meant, don't twist my words around!"_

_"Did I? Am I? All I ever_ do _is use my eyes! And they aren't mistaken - I have four of them! Oh-ho'h-ho'h-ho'h-ho'h!"_

Steven was out the door just as Sugilite stomped toward Sadronyx, snarling,  _"Good, plenty of targets for me!"_

* * *

_**Act I: Old Friends, New Problems** _

* * *

The Earth rocked with Sugilite's mighty footfalls. "Excellent observational skills, dear Sugilite!" Sardonyx mocked to the advancing Fusion. "Now actually managing to _hit me_  on the other hand..."

Sugilite's rightmost fists were soaring up toward her flawless face just as Steven yelled,  _"GUYYYYYYS!"_ from his balcony.

Both Fusions froze in place - Sardonyx having snapped immediately into a battle-ready position akin to Pearl's - and looked to Steven through their spectacles. Although her's were darkened, Steven saw the dark determination of conflict flee Sugilite's fifth eye similarly to her fellow Fusion.

They must not have seen the weary look on Steven's face - both maneuvered their way over to his house, the showman Fusion crying out, "Steven Quartz  _Universe_ , back in the Realm of Wakefulness!" and squatted before him (but not without Sugilite shouldering most of Sardonyx out of the way as she arrived).

"Morning squirt," she nodded.

Steven didn't even have the urge to greet them as he told them, "Guys, all of Beach City will be woken up if you don't stop fighting!" Both Fusions looked to one another, guilty. Seeing this, Steven managed an easygoing smile. "Just be more aware in the future."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Certainly, Steven! Gem's honor!" Sardonyx smiled, pleased to hear him giggle at her - Steven couldn't help but see a lot of Pearl in her.

 _Except this isn't just a combo of Pearl and Garnet,_  he told himself, oftentimes when it came to the concept of Fusion. _This is Sardonyx, and she's her own Gem now. Just like Sugilite, and Opal and Stevonnie, Garnet, and-!_

Steven felt like Jasper punched him in the gut.

 _Oh my gosh..._ How could this not have occurred to him sooner!?  _This... This is just awful!_

"Yo, Ste-man?" He was jolted from his thoughts - Steven met Sugilite's massive, shaded gaze with a start.

"Hm? Wh-What? Sorry?" A hand absentmindedly went to his aching heart, head still filled with images of his surrogate parent and the components that made her.

"You looked so abruptly crestfallen." Sardonyx was allowed to lean her large self closer without much fuss from her counterpart. Both her eyes and the exposed one of Sugilite told him they were concerned. "Sincere apologies if we upset you, Steven... Dear Sugilite and I, we-"

He was only half-listening, in truth. "Yeah," he interrupted, faintly. "I mean, it's fine, guys... Just keep it down in the future."

" _I'm_  fine." Sardonyx 'subtly' rolled her eyes as her hulking companion rolled backwards into a lounging position. "So long as  _she_  keeps her business out of mine, it'll be like Thanksgiving, Dollface and I."

"Thanksgiving is about getting together as a family," Steven said.

Sugilite snarled - no, wait, it was a chuckle. "Buffet Day is the single time a year where Humans tolerate their most annoying family members in the name of some made-up history." She shrugged in the sand, staring into the sun. As if sensing his annoyance, Sugilite gazed across her bulky form at the tiny boy in his pajamas, and her large, half-lidded companion - whose topmost hands gently braced herself against the house.

" _Come on_ , Steven. 's just how it is! I - well,  _my Gems_ , we've seen enough on the television to know  _that_."

Brutally honest, just like Garnet. But Steven also remembered all the fun he had watching those holiday specials with his family.

And he also remembered what they taught him - he didn't blame anyone for missing such an alien concept like "family," especially the logic-driven Garnet and, well...  _Amethyst_.

"Then you should know that family's supposed to always love each other - no matter if its Spring or Fall!"

"Aw  _jeez_..." groaned Sugilite, rolling to her side.

Steven was almost knocked aside as a single finger suddenly, though noticeably gentle, pat his curls down. " _Very_  well said, Steven!" Sardonyx complimented, and though he smiled and blushed and pushed her finger away, Steven wondered, deep inside, if she understood what he meant as well.

"Why are you guys out here, anyway?" Though his tone was typically chipper, Steven's brows were furrowed, irked - something he didn't realize himself.

Sardonyx sat back on her butt, lower hands propping her up, with another dramatically poised against her brow. "Alas, our glorious frames are unable to access the door to our temple without demolishing your lovely home! So, here we are," her hands shot up, splayed to the orange, silver-dusted sky, "camping underneath the  _stars_  like modern Man!"

The Earth grumbled as Sugilite performed a sit-up. "In normal words:  _I'm_  buff, and  _she's_  got back. So we split the beach." The other Fusion's cheeks darkened a shade of red, though nobody but her cared for what was said as Steven pointed out,

"But the beach is for everyone!"

"Mhm, yes, well," Sardonyx cleared her throat, "you are absolutely right, Steven. However, as far as living arrangements go - until something better can be worked out - Sugilite and I will spend our nights on either side of the temple's mountain... We have our privacy  _still_ , despite our ginormous selves!" She tittered. "So we won't be getting in anybody's way."

"'Sides, it's not like we'll be here  _all_  the flippin' time. Heck no!"

"Er, right!" Steven frowned; he couldn't help but feel...  _neutral_ , about that.

Sensing his dejection, Sardonyx tutted. "No frownies, Steven! You  _know_  we still have a duty to protect our home."

"R-Right..." Steven blushed - he really should have remembered this. They were still heroes, after all - freak lab accidents be darned. And though a little sad his new family will not be around  _all_  the time... missions with them could be a whole new kind of fun!

_Besides, the less Sugilite and Sardonyx are around each other, the better._

Realizing all of this, Steven was excited once more and cried out, "Yeah!" a little more positively this time. "It's going to be  _really_  cool to go on missions with all of you!" The Fusions bestowed their distinctive smirks upon him.

"Probably gonna be real  _easy_  now, too," said Sugilite.

Sardonyx nodded in agreement, and smiled down on the boy. "Everything shall work out splendidly, Steven - I can't wait! And I can't wait to always be here with you."

A sentiment Steven was sure the others shared, but he felt tingly inside hearing it from one of them personally.

And Sardonyx spoke to him with such confidence, such conviction, that he truly did believe the sailing would be as smooth as she made it out to be.

* * *

**_Next Time:_ **

**_Two Halves Make a Whole -_ ** _Steven prepares for a day of couple-y fun at Funland with Ruby and Sapphire._

* * *

**After almost a year-long hiatus, welcome back. Hope this chapter is a fitting return!**

**Apologies for not updating this story for so long - I got into Star vs., and then back into writing for Adventure Time. I have two ongoing fics for each of those now, along with this one, so to ensure that I never abandon these stories again, I've decided to write a chapter for this one, then the AT fic, and then Star before coming back to this one.**

**Without further ado, welcome back!**


	8. Two Halves Make a Whole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Sapphire prepare for a day of couple-y fun at Funland! But there seems to be a bit of a communication problem between the once-self-proclaimed "conversation."

"So!" Steven clapped his hands together, recapturing the attention of Sugilite and Sardonyx. "Got any plans for the day?" he asked, incredibly slyly.

"Uh, well..." Sugilite's uncovered eye floated upward, "now that I'm here to stay, 'm not really sure..." Seeing her gaze light up, Steven whirled around. "Garnet!" he and the two giant Fusions exclaimed. Steven was somehow the loudest of them all.

Garnet stood before the doorway, unflinching at the thunderous chorus of her name. "Good morning, you three," she said, her name continuing to roll off into the distance.

 _So much for keeping quiet!_ Steven sputtered despite it all, laughing into his hands. "Look like you're still the leader, Garnet!" he said. For some reason, the Ultra-Garnet versions of Garnet all listened to Garnet? That was just so unexpected! It'd be like if a grandparent listened to one's parent. It just wasn't natural.

Garnet only smiled down at him as Steven wiped away a tear. "Huh," he grunted, "you guys think it's because of the bits of Pearl and Amethyst that makes Garnet still the leader?" pondered Steven. He'd jutted a thumb behind him, his comments unwittingly reducing the two to flushed, lip-biting messes of embarrassment.

The only thing that's stopped either of the biggest loudmouths of the Crystal Gems, was the fact that their only audience was Garnet, who truly understood, and Steven, who was Steven.

It was for these same reasons that Garnet allowed her shoulders to slack. "Yea'," she grunted, "I've made my peace with that."

"With being the leader, or the thing I said?" asked Steven.

There was a beat of silence. "Everything."

"Mm." Sardonyx, squatting still, rested her cheek in two palms. "You're radiant with anticipation, darling," she noted dully.

"Not for what's going down today." Garnet opened her mouth, breathed deep... the paused, and looked down as Steven clasped her legs, going, "Ooh! Is it a mission?" He inched up her legs. "Can I come? Can everyone come? Can Connie?!" Steven froze rigid, having scaled the Tower of Garnet by that point and now clung to her face like a squirrel. "Or are we actually doing a Together Breakfast, we're short on supplies, and that wasn't just a dream?" he pondered, drilling a finger into his cheek.

Steven squeaked as Garnet grasped him by the back of his shirt, plucked him off her face, and set him upon her head. "No."

"To which?"

"All of them."

"Aw, man."

Garnet put her hands to her hips and, in her booming leader-voice, announced, "Listen up you two," the forms of Sugilite and Sardonyx leaned in, casting Steven's deck in shadow, "the three of us're going on a bit of a road trip. I'll explain the parameters on our way to the barn warp. And Steven, your mission," she plucked and held him out in front of her, and said softly, "is with our favorite couple."

"Awe!" Steven squished his cheeks together. He'd already been planning on attending to Ruby and Sapphire's problem. But with Garnet tasking him, the extension of those two Gems, Steven realized this was a time to be serious.

Because Garnet, for some reason, ultimately couldn't help them. If that was truly the case, how deep did this problem go? Steven wanted to ask, but like with every burning question about the Gems he felt it wasn't his place to ask such things.

Instead, he opted for a hearty, "I won't let anyone down!"

Garnet smiled. "I know you won't." She smacked Steven a kiss on the cheek before setting his giggling self down.

* * *

"Funland, huh?" Sapphire, lips curved into a smile, beamed at her partner. "How about it, Ruby? It looks like a good time!"

"Hm..." Steven didn't let his disappointment show, because it wasn't at all Ruby's fault. He totally understood why she was upset. "I don't feel like it." She sat, legs together and arms folded. Sapphire's was hooked around her elbow.

"Ruby..." She leaned in, gripping her forearm. Ruby just pursed her lips, looking away.

Steven needed to lighten the mood, in his own, Steven-y, way! "You'd be having fun while goofing around with someone you love!"

Ruby's shoulders bounced as a titter thumped in her breast. "I still dunno," she said, looking away. " _Would_  it help?" Her smile tried really hard to stay. "Can you see it helping us both, Sapphire? Hm?"

"I, it's possible," stammered the typically-cool Gem. Steven was surprised to find a slight chill ghosting off her gloves.

"Sapphire?"

The blue Gemling's lips stayed parted, perhaps looking deeper into a singular, likely future where it did help Ruby. "I can see you smiling," she continued without missing a beat, "both of us, actually, but... We're having fun."

That sounded good enough to Steven!

Ruby flailed her arms, flinging sparks left and right. "It's at Funland, Saph!" She hugged herself, trailing off with, "Of course I'm smiling at Funland..." With a huff, she squeezed herself tight. "'Sides," she muttered, "'s'not even what I'm asking. I'm asking if it'd help  _you._ "

Sapphire said nothing. She touched her lips to the clasped, gloved hands before her. Steven grew concerned, and was ready to touch Sapphire even though Ruby wasn't worried. "If it makes you happy, it will help me." She even gave a smile so sweet it made Ruby blush. Huffing, she tore away, squinting.

"Come on, Ruby! I know you love Funland. What do you have to lose?" Steven had many fond memories of he and Garnet spinning in their teacups, traversing the House of Mirrors, braving the roller coaster that goes upside-down, and literally-annihilating the many rigged games Mister Smiley still tries making Gem-proof to this day.

"I do love Funland..." Ruby smiled guiltily, probably recalling the time they'd spent with Steven, too.

"And," Sapphire cooed in her motherly voice, "I'll be right beside you the whole time, embarrassing you."

Ruby chuckled. "Saph, don't do that," she said halfheartedly.

Sapphire got close, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "Holding your hand," both of hers grasped Ruby's bulkier fingers like twin pythons, "and," she leaned in, "doing this," Sapphire mumbled, pecking Ruby on the brow. The Gem's puffed cheeks took an adorable shade of maroon.

" _Oooh-hooo~!_ " Steven cooed, and upon saying that the glowing-red Ruby erupted in a burst of light and heat. Steven tore away, shielding himself even though it'd ended as soon as he reacted. The couple blinked at him like a pair of owls. Sapphire's eye, big and blue, gaped huge, like she was still reeling from the fact that Steven suddenly set her tiny red girlfriend off.

Neither rose, the pair instead sitting in the ashes like it was their nest. Neither rose to their feet. "Uh," Ruby stammered,  _"Greg will get a new one,"_  both said at once.

Steven laughed; Garnet would totally say that, even though he didn't really care about the sofa. He went through enough television sets in a year not to have an attachment to possessions.

"I'll get that!" Pearl announced out of nowhere, coming in with an EZ-Vac. The cleaner whined and Pearl hummed, the two working in harmony as she sucked up what was once Steven's beloved sofa.

"Let's take this outside," Sapphire loudly decreed.

 _"WHAT?"_ Steven couldn't resist, and the smirk on Ruby's face told him she couldn't either. Sapphire said nothing more as she grabbed them both by the wrist and, in a flash, she'd bolted them both outside. Garnet and her two Fusions were long-gone.

"Well," Steven sniffed; his nose tingled with a sneeze that wanted out, "how about it, Ru-by?" he'd said with a start.

The red Gem had climbed up the railing, herself perched over it and looking out to the houses left side. "Shoot," she muttered, "view's beautiful." The ocean rolled out into the horizon, as massive as it was churning - endless, never stopping beneath an almost sapphire-blue sky. Not a cloud ruined the blue on blue expanse beside them, before them once the trio moved to the deck's seaward side. The sun was behind the house, splashing the sky hear orange.

"Are we really enjoying it?" Ruby asked. She continued looking out to sea, yellow sunrays arcing above her. Steven thought she looked like an angel - a little, hot tamale of an angel. Hurriedly, she added, "I don't care if it fixes this. I mean, I do, but-"

"I understand," Sapphire assured her, smiling.

Steven's chest got all twisted and tight; these two were both so divine. Their care was so real! "And yes," she put a hand on Ruby's back, "I can see us having all sorts of fun, Luv." A noticeable amount of tension melted neath Sapphire's thumb-stroking caress.

Ruby, with a gentle sigh, dropped her head with a simple, "Alright." Steven, and even Sapphire, tilted their heads in anticipation. Lurching forth, Ruby kicked off the railing, soaring in a backflip above their heads. Steven laughed in amazement upon her landing several feet away, without any falter.

"I'll give it a try!" Ruby grinned, her fists clashed together.

"Yeah!" Steven whooped. Sapphire grinned, hands clapped.

* * *

"Going Funland," as Steven put it, was a stroke of genius on his part (if he does say so himself).

After all, what's more classic than a couple going on a carnival date? Nothing. At least, nothing Greg thought would top it. In Steven's experience, that meant it was a surefire way to help Ruby; his dad just  _got_ people, even Gems. He always knew just what they needed to feel better. Using the wisdom of Greg, Steven was going to prove that, while they could no longer love each other in the way that Gems do, romancing it up "Human-style" could add a completely new (and adorable) dynamic to Ruby and Sapphire's relationship.

"You'd be just like any old couple from Earth," Steven surmised, sand squishing beneath him. "Since the two of you can't just know how one another's feeling, you're gonna have to communicate like human beings."

Sapphire hummed thoughtfully.

Ruby just kept trudging along, her smoking legs falling knee-deep in the sand. "We already do that," she said, holding her girlfriend's hand all the while.

"Yeah, but...' Steven rolled his hand around and around. But the best he could come up with was, "Now, you're gonna have to do it all the time! Which, you're not used too!"

Ruby's shoulders weighed with the prospect. "Yeah, you're telling me," Her eyes narrowed. "You're not totally fine with this," she whispered, "are ya, Sapphy?"

" _Ruby_ ," Sapphire whispered, tilting her head left. Ahead, Steven was skipping along prattling on about what it's like to communicate as a human couple. 'Quiet now,' said the finger to her lips. Ruby just turned away; she'd never want to hurt Steven, nor do so by giving him the wrong idea.

"Hey," Sapphire's icy-cool touch was on Ruby's bicep, gripping it tight, "I'm giving this a shot, but I'm going to let our future play out the way it will."

The idea of Sapphire being so lax about the future gave Ruby pause. "Are you sure  _you're_  okay?"

"Of course I am," was the quick reply. Sapphire swallowed. "But I don't know how well today will work for us, either. Not in the long run." Sapphire touched her temple. "I try and see, but it's too uncertain." She smiled subtly. "What with the two of you being so random..." she turned blue as the ocean beside them, "and  _wonderful_. But, I'm doing this for Steven.  _And_  because I love Funland."

Ruby swallowed, realizing she'd been blushing. "I know you do." she squeaked, squeezing Sapphire's fingers. "You think we can face off in Meat Beat Mania 2?"

Sapphire's hand went from Ruby's to her elbow, a grin exploding on her face. "Oh, you're on!"

"No Future Vision, though!"

"Like I need that to beat you," Sapphire bragged, flicking her hand. Her grin fell suddenly, heavily, and she uttered with a hand to her temple, "I think. Your skill seems to fluctuate by the timeline."

"Sheesh, you and your Future Vision..."

The couple lulled into a comfortable silence. Soon, smiles and thoughts fell upon their little boy marching on ahead. Leading them. The Gems' gazed into the distance, clutching one another's hand while recalling days long-past, when everything was so much simpler. When Steven regarded them as flawless superheros - an idea that still made Ruby and Sapphire, and by extension Garnet, feel unworthy of his affection. As time went on, the only constant throughout it all was that they loved Steven fiercely. There wasn't a force that could stop them from keeping him safe and a smile upon his face.

Keystone, it just so happened, passed through both of the tiny Gems' minds at the same time. Their entwined hands, palms grafted with the respective gemstone, smoked black and ghosted white, hissing together, and stinging their owners slightly.

" _Sorry_ ," both said at once. " _It's OK, I'm the one who's sorry. I'm just mad at myself."_ Ruby and Sapphire came to a full stop, the former's gaze falling upon the ocean-blue flush of her lover's face, whose eye, through a curtain of powder-blue hair, found hers.

"Gosh," breathed Ruby, "we're just blushing so much. Do you remember that movie with the human teenagers?"

A beat of silence. Then, their cheeks swelled and the Gems burst out laughing. Giggling still, Ruby and Sapphire jogged ahead, hands entwined and low to the ground, coming up behind Steven.

"-so even if you feel the need, those six situations are the  _only times_  it's OK to perform Public Displays of Affecti- _W'hoah!_ " Steven cried out as he was scooped up in an arm throne of Ruby and Sapphire.

 _"Sorry, Steven!"_  they said as one, grinning up at him.

Cool, salty air combed gently through Steven's curls. He grinned, seeing the Big Donut pass by. "For what?" he genuinely wondered, placing a hand on either Gem's head for support. They weren't even sprinting. It was a nice jog.

"You guys have a nice talk back there?" he wondered. Both Gems pursed their lips, sweating, though neither faltered in their step. Steven just laughed. "Guys, I don't mind! I just hope whatever you were talking about applied my three-step rule."

Ruby clasped the side of her head. "A single rule has  _three steps_?" As she begun to slow, Sapphire did as well.

"Steven," she asked, "is there a textbook from which you read this all from?"

"Uh, not really?" Steven hopped off his arm-throne, once again taking their prior formation of him taking the lead. "I bet my dad did!"

"Greg," Sapphire uttered. "Hm." The trio's various footwear knocked against the boardwalk, her hidden high heels clacking upon it. To their right, small shops gave way to Beach City's family-owned restaurants. The silhouette of Funland's various attractions, looping through the hazy-blue horizon, loomed in the distance at the boardwalk's end.

"Alright Sapphire, I'll say it," said Ruby, drawing her surprise. "This whole 'communication' thing just sounds like talking to me. I think it's tedious, and I don't like it."

The blue Gem smiled, her thumb rubbing the back of Ruby's hand. "That's because it is, dear." Ruby opened her mouth. "All of those things." Ruby shut her mouth.

"Yeah!" Steven chirped. "You're just gonna have to get used to communicating  _that_  way instead of through Fusion! You know -  _have_  a conversation instead of  _being_  one!"

Steven meant well - bless his pure little soul he did, but even Sapphire winced upon hearing that. Whatever she saw in that moment, Ruby realized, it wasn't pretty. It wasn't easy. And Ruby...

...she was just a Ruby. "Right." The red Gem flushed, punching out those thoughts like the negative nothings that they were. She didn't need them, she had Sapphire by her side! Ruby grinned, recalling the flutter in her partner's voice. "No big D."

Sapphire snorted, elbowed Ruby, then grimaced. "Please, don't say that again, sweetie."


	9. A Song of Ice and Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire and Ruby's date, and their adventures as a human couple, starts off well enough. But what storm ever lacked a calm to precede it?

This day has a happy ending. There was just a single wall for them to climb, first - Ruby and Sapphire. It was the sort of thing that Sapphire, once upon a time, would overlook; the end result was what mattered most, after all. While true in many cases, some days, like today, proved that dealing with the ugliness beforehand is more important than the conclusion it leads to.

After all, those walls teach us to climb. If we never learn how to climb, how can we ever move on?

It wasn't all bad, however - the day at Funland. Things were going great, actually. At first! At least, Steven thought they were? Except...

No. Before lunch, things were going  _great..._

* * *

Ruby and Sapphire were having the time of their millennia-old lives!

Steven and the combined strength of the Gem couple tore through Funland without mercy. That vibe of tummy-butterflies, when Steven just knew he was in for a good day, swarmed hearing Ruby go, "that sweet, sweet garbage food-smell never gets old," to which Sapphire hummed in agreement. Steven couldn't picture Garnet admitting such a thing (well okay, he easily could, but not so eloquently as Ruby), and that got him so excited he sprinted off, singing 'You gotta keep up!' to their cries of protest. As their grinning, blurred faces whipped by a heartbeat later, Steven was excited to see how much more he could learn about Garnet by spending time with Ruby and Sapphire.

An activity that was bound to be more fun when their lives weren't plunged in mortal peril or emotional turmoil.

Steven, fully aware the latter was surely affecting the two, made him all the happier to see Cheshire smiles all around with two little Gems having the time of their millennia-old lives. It only took the first game, too. Steven brought them to a whack-a-mole. Both fought with their own brand of ferocity, but Steven's eyes couldn't help but stay on Ruby, mashing the little plastic mole heads with controlled fury.

Controlled, because she only  _eventually_  wore them down to cheap, choking-hazard splinters. Not immediately. Proudly, she presented Sapphire with a teddy bear as big as any one of them. She and Steven's grins dropped with a gasp as Sapphire did the same, whirling around with flowing skirts and beaming smugness as she took a pose, presenting a life-sized dolphin.

Steven hooted, impressed with their performance. Though not solely for the prizes won. "Good job you guys! Especially with not annihilating the machines..." He turned away and wiped some sweat from his forehead; the risks he took for love. "That's sure to keep Mister Smiley smiling, alright."

Sapphire held the dolphin aside, "He seems to do that in spite of our constant accidental property damage."

Ruby beat her chest, saying assuredly, "He's got a lot to smile about, living in the city of the Crystal  _Gems."_ Steven didn't know what she was going for, flexing and growling 'Gems' like that, but Sapphire took to it with delight, giggling into her hand.

Steven tugged at his collar. "I think calling those accidents, well, 'accidental' is stretching it a little." He gave a shudder for all those poor games Garnet had destroyed without realizing what she'd done. It'd led to Steven's total ban across the park, not just the rides. "Though, it was my fault for just throwing you guys into something totally new."

"So?" asked Ruby. "You were just a kid, kid. How were you supposed to know we'd be so..." She rolled her free hand for several moments until Sapphire finished with, "Enthusiastic."

To try something new - human video games at that? Though Amethyst got Garnet into a couple fighters since, such boldness definitely didn't sound like Ruby or Sapphire. Did that mean they were lying? That meant they were lying, how dare they! Or they were, at the very least, hiding some truth from Steven. For Steven. As always. They believed they had good intentions then, whatever those were, and Steven couldn't be angry with them for that. He rubbed his chin as the couple did their 'disgustingly cute couple' skit.

"That's a lucky win, even with Future Vision." Ruby gazed upon the dolphin that looked ready to rocket from Sapphire's hands and into the ocean with a backflip, chirping gaily all the while. It was clear why Sapphire adored something so simple and cute; it was never a mystery why Garnet took to Steven easily. And yeah, Sapphire had to admit they he was pretty darn cute.

Dolphins were, too. Ruby flushed, realizing she'd been quite and Sapphire had been standing there! She was smiling, but Ruby had no idea what she could be thinking. "Uh, s-so tell me, Saph," she said discreetly, "how badly didja cheat to win that?" It was lame as dirt, but it was something.

"Cheat? Nonsense," her lover intoned, dead-serious. "I merely saw the mole-littered path before me, my goal at the end, and the stones crunching beneath my heel." Ruby coughed, sighing the heat building in her core. She didn't want to burn Sapphire's gift, after all. "You see, Ruby,  _this_  was but the inevitable conclusion!" Sapphire held the massive toy before her. It was like a giant, cute club whose cuteness enhanced a million-fold as she gingerly stepped close, smiling tenderly. "Here, I 'cheated' this into my possession for you."

Ruby, darker than her namesake, exchanged prizes. She held it like a prize. "I don't think I can take this," she said, holding the porpoise overhead, single-handed. "I know how much you like dolphins."

Sapphire hummed in amusement. "That's why I want you to have it. Now, you'll think of me whenever you give it a squeeze. And, you will," whispered Sapphire, pinkie-up.

The pair really did seem like a pair of best friends half the time, jostling one another back and forth with their gifts, their laughter ringing high and breathlessly like a pair of children's. Was this, Steven wondered, the fateful "Honeymoon Phase" - he hoped not. Those are commonly followed by a period of distaste, and tension was the last thing either of them needed.

At least they were laughing now.

Heart higher than the sky above, Steven paraded them through the park. By now, it was all but assured that Ruby and Sapphire just needed time. Time to adjust, time to realize how much fun being a human couple could be. Their next game, the fishing booth, was a good laugh: Ruby, frustrated, just dove in and started grabbing the plastic fish, claiming this way "more efficient." After that, Sapphire dominated balloon darts with a a single, icy throw.

Steven saw it fly for half a heartbeat, bright and white as the most beautiful shooting star.

His coo of delight didn't even have a chance to emerge before an icy gust of wind knocked Steven to his heels, and, in the blink of an eye, blinding light with minivan-sized icicles speared over Mr Smiley's horrified head.

In the distance, a coaster and a chorus of delighted shrieks shuddered by.

Sapphire, hands folded, subtly picked at and played with the fabric of her gloves. "I did it," she uttered.

"YEAH! Way to go, Sapphire!" cheered Ruby, and Steven whooped in agreement, praying the rest of the park would join in with him.

Their voices rang into the vast blue above, free as birds, free of the crushing embarrassment enveloping their owners. Only when Mister Smiley finally budged of his statuesque state, did Sapphire say, "We're done here," grab her loved ones by the writs, and blast off with the two of them flapping in the wind.

Steven yelled apologies as best he could to the flustered, shrieking park owner. "Looks like I have another apology letter to write!" laughed Steven, trailing off into a deep sigh.

"Apologies. I... lost focus," said Sapphire.

He waved her off, pressing his back into the cool caress of some guy's snow cone cart. "Not a big deal. Because no price is too steep for the power of love!" he cried, swearing to the Diamonds, just in case they were listening.

Ruby didn't take too kindly to that: "You shouldn't even be punished, it's not like it's  _your_  fault!"

"Still..." beside Ruby, the subtle sag in Sapphire's posture might as well have been a guilty sigh; obviously, she didn't mean to cause so much trouble, "...we should have stayed and helped clean up. It would've been the right thing to do."

"It's just ice and wood, that's nothing!"

Sapphire's hands folded into the ocean-blue depths of her dress. "Ruby, you know that's not the point."

"What?! No I don't!" Steven had begun to chuckle, but stopped seeing that Ruby was genuinely distraught over this. "Half of the mess is taken care of by nature! Why should we waste our time when Mister Smiley doesn't even hire  _real_  safety inspectors!"

Sapphire said nothing else, because she must know any attempt would incite further argument. Therefore, they chose to do nothing about Mister Smiley, and Steven resigned to sorting it out himself, as usual.

After having some laughs on the teacups, Steven wanted lunch - or rather, Sapphire predicted that he would, which he did upon hearing mention.

Steven perked up hearing the Gem's voice in general. She was unusually quiet during the teacup ride, and Ruby didn't seem to notice! Or she did, but approaching Sapphire about it was deemed pointless to some capacity. That wasn't how couples were supposed to communicate at all!

Or Ruby and Sapphire for that matter.  _What is going on?_ he wondered, listening to the silence at his back.

Steven had a hunch the whole "Fusion problem" was behind it. Whatever was upsetting the couple, that had to be the reason. But how, when he didn't even get that impression from Ruby? The one who, according to Sapphire, was struggling most with this development, ran off calling back, "I'll get you lunch Steven! _You like fry bits right!?_ " She was gone before he could say he was feeling hot dogs, but fry bits were good too. Who's Steven to deny a good bit?

As mentioned before, things got weird around lunchtime.

Things got weird upon turning around, finding Sapphire literally frozen in place, her gown enveloped in a crystalline sheen. "She's just excited," Sapphire answered. Steven hadn't even asked a question.

When he asked, "Are you okay?"

Blue lips popped open, soundless, before shutting. "Of course, Steven," she smiled. "As I said, Ruby's just excited." Her voice was low, even softer than it was yesterday at the Kindergarten. "Apologies, Steven. I'm OK. Just flustered by Ruby's enthusiasm." Steven frowned; Sapphire had been  _really_ quiet since the balloon dart game, and now she wasn't even smiling. Something was bothering her... but it wasn't his business to know the Gem couple's.

Fusion, after all, was such a personal business for them. It was a matter that had been a part of their very being for centuries. Steven couldn't hope to understand how painful this was for the couple.

He could only do his best to help them through this, however he can. Steven breathed in, his thoughts on what to do while Ruby got him lunch (hopefully with money).

"Steven, wait," Sapphire's hands nearly clapped him in the face as they shot out in front of her. "I'm sorry, but I'm not fine." She lathered her hands, grimed in invisible anxiety. "I've had visions, Steven," she intoned, all soft and Garnet-like again. "So many visions, of so many different possibilities. Of this day, how it will end. I... I couldn't resist looking, I'm sorry. I know I should be here with her, but... It was just going so well after the first game,  _too well-"_

There was so much to keep up with. "Sapphire, slow dow-"

She gasped, soft and quick. "I'm sorry. I was just overwhelmed," she explained shakily.

Steven didn't think twice about grabbing her hand in both of his. "S-Steven-"

"Please, try and relax," he said. "You never have to apologize to me, Sapphire. I get how you feel," he smiled sadly.

Through her veil of plush, snowy bangs, Steven knew she was fixing him with a starry-eyed gaze.

"You can tell me anything, Sapphire. I want to do whatever it takes to help you and Ruby! Even if it's not exactly my business," he folded his arms, nodding defiantly.

Sapphire hadn't moved, still. Hands frozen, clawing to her jawline, suddenly grasped her exposed biceps. "Now I know why Ruby is so comfortable around you, and Garnet..." And Sapphire laughed... sobbed. No, laughing? Sapphire gasped, her voice sharp as a sword and clasping her one eye. "Stars, this is so,  _so_ -"

"M-messed up?" Steven offered.

"Among so much else." Her hand dropped, allowing her bangs to fall back upon it. "I am... sorry," Sapphire decided, sighing again. "And don't say it's okay, please." Steven, caught with his mouth opened, snapped shut with a blush. "It's okay to you," said Sapphire. "I understand it stems from a place of caring. But me? I... I have to be the bigger Gem," she squeezed her hand shut, closing the sapphire stone embedded in her palm. "Usually, I'm not like this. I'm not so overwhelmed."

Seagulls cried above them, several feet to Steven right, pecking at discarded french fries. "Is it because Ruby isn't fused with you anymore, helping you keep calm?" Stevne pursed his lips, never looking towards the blue Gem. He didn't know what line he'd just crossed by asking such a thing.

"Yes." He stiff softness grabbed him by surprise. Sapphire's cheeks, deep as the ocean stretching out behind her through the loops and gates of the coaster, were turned slightly in the direction of the Fryman's truck outside Funland. "This is very hard for the both of us." Frost crept up Sapphire's skirt, ghosting in the warm air and whisping out to sea.

Steven blinked, shook his head. "Sapphire, I don't know what you're hiding," or what she saw that made her so clearly nervous, "or what you saw-"

"I saw us fighting," Sapphire intruded, a crown of icicles splaying out beneath her. "From the first I saw, to the last, I only saw us. Screaming at each other. Crying, hurting one another. Hurting those we care about."

"Wah!" Steven leaped back, an icicle nearly skewering him in the foot.

"See, I only knew you dodged that." Sapphire clasped her elbows. "Because in every future, you do. But most of the time, especially lately, you haven't. Like Ruby always does."

A teeth-grinding crackle snapped through the air, and the ice forming around Sapphire shattered, and blew out like an autumn flurry. "Refreshing," Steven hummed, trying to lighten the mood.

Sapphire smiled gently, though he had a feeling she was sparing him this one gentleness. She was clearly worked up. Which means... "Sapphire, you gotta talk to Ruby. I don't even know why I'm telling you this, I thought you guys already did this stuff!" he cried.

" _Things are a bit,_ " Sapphire chose her words, her head tilted down slightly, "tense, right now. Steven." She turned, gazing down upon the soaked boardwalk around her. "The future has me worried. It's clear something is bothering Ruby, but she won't tell me. I suspect she doesn't want to burden me, but I can't be sure. Nor will approaching her directly end in seldom other than an argument. Yet, I see beyond our fights, where it's all but  _certain_  that we'll be okay, but..."

"But getting there  _has_  to come from fight," Steven realized.

"No," Sapphire's head turned," it doesn't," then her whole body, hands clasped before her. "Steven," she said, that Gem-prayer she did kissing her smiling lips, "I want your help."

"Of course. What do you need me to do?"

Sapphire's smile exploded into that Cheshire Cat-grin. "Help me change the future. Prevent it from literally going up in flames."

"No problem! That's pretty much my destiny already."

* * *

**Part 2 will be up within the next few days - this one was just getting long enough as it is, and I wanted to get something out.**


End file.
